The Gypsy Hunters
by Kassandra Starr
Summary: Reid has been trying to put his prison ordeal in the past but is still struggling. New section Chief Aaron Hotchner asks him to join a team led by returning SSa Derek Morgan. Among the team members, is someone from Reid's past. The team's first case will resurrect ghosts from her own childhood. Can they put their demons to rest and rebuild their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Spencer Reid awoke shaking and drenched in a cold sweat. His sheets were twisted from tossing and turning. He wondered when the nightmares would stop. It had been 4 months since his false imprisonment and encounter with Kat Adams. He'd gone through mandatory counseling and was back at work. He visited with his mother regularly. His life had routine. Yet the dreams would not let him go. His phone buzzed on the bedside table. Reid plucked it up and glanced at the screen. A message from team leader Emily Prentice was displayed asking him to meet with her and section Chief Aaron Hotchner in the morning. Reid texted back that he would be there. A knot of anxiety formed in his stomach. Was there some problem with his performance He wondered? He thought he was covering up his nightmares, difficulty focusing and hyper vigilance pretty well.

Aurora Ashleen Carstairs played absently with a bangle bracelet as she sat in the coffee shop watching the sun come up. She brushed back her auburn hair and glanced around the shop, picking out the easy marks, The man so focused on the argument he was having with someone named Della that he didn't notice his wallet was half out of the back pocket of his tan brook's Brother's suit, The woman with the frizzy brown hair who set her alligator purse down on the chair next to her before becoming engrossed in the Washington Post, and the heavy set woman in a nurse's uniform who slouched over the bar, her head in her hands, her cell phone lying unattended on the counter by her menu.

" _I could pluck any one of them clean and they wouldn't have a clue_ , Aurora reflected, _they make it so damn easy_! _I should do it for fun, for old time's sake_. Aurora knew that would only cause her more trouble. She was supposed to be beyond acting out and especially acting like a stereotype.

Aurora opened her over sized, lavender backpack and withdrew two items. She placed them on the table, beside her mocha latte. One was a drawing of a blonde haired girl with wide, blue eyes, a lighter shade than her own, staring fearfully out of a trailer window framed with bright red curtains. The second was an envelope, an address neatly typed on the front for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She withdrew the letter from SSA. Derek Morgan, unit chief for the auxiliary investigation Unit. _Can't make a cute little acronym out of that one can you_ , Aurora mused. She let her gaze slide over Agent Morgan's note once again. People were so quick to pigeon hole. All blacks were gangsters, hanging on the corner in the hood, all Japanese were over achieving sushi lovers, All Russians had a fondness for Vodka and Tolstoy, and all Gypsies were thieves, cheats, con artists and pick pockets. It never occurred to anyone, especially white bread, government agencies that the stereotypes were the exception rather than the rule. _That's why these outsiders need a tour guide_ , aurora reminded herself, someone needs to show them the truth verses the fiction and it might as well be you. Remember what Aunt Melinda use to tell you about your responsibility to use the past to make a better future for yourself.

Resignedly, Aurora packed up her things, shouldered her bag and picked up her Latte. She had some time before she had to enter the lion's den, she could light a candle for Eden Ann, let her know that someone was finally going to get her justice

Alexander Austin Gallagher sauntered through the bullpen; He stopped at the desk of a brunette woman with a pleasant, oval face.

"Excuse me sweetheart," he said, flashing her dimpled smile, "Could you tell me where to find SSA Derek Morgan?"

The woman rolled her dark eyes derisively and pointed to stairs leading to a catwalk.

"Thanks," he said, grinning at the woman again. She merely shrugged. Xander continued on, smiling to himself. He knew how he was seen, in his navy blue Gucci suit, a pale blue silk shirt peeking out from underneath and a scarlet tie completing the outfit. He wore shoes hand crafted in Italian leather. His blonde hair came down just below his ears and was neatly styled with just a touch of lightener added to give him the California care free look that matched the story he told about his life. No one had to know this ensemble was the last vestige of his former life. Xander climbed the stairs and strode to the door the woman pointed to, knocking smartly.

From inside, SA Derek Morgan glanced at his watch. _Right on time_ , Morgan thought, chuckling to himself.

"Come in," the older man called.

Xander stepped in, flicking a glance at the stylishly dressed, bald, black man behind the desk.

"What happened to your hair, Tubbs?" Xander asked.

Morgan bristled inwardly but showed only a cool smile.

"I see the two years you spent inside didn't take the smart ass out of you." Morgan said.

He studied the young man. He was dressed like a fashion plate, wearing the suit he had worn at his last hearing. He'd been to the salon recently. Morgan wondered where he got the funds for that.

"I was kind of surprised you looked me up." Xander said, unphased by Morgan's attitude, "You need fashion tips? I could start with your hair, or lack thereof. I could get you a great deal on a product that would take years off you and give you a nice mane for the ladies to play with: Though some chicks dig the queue-ball look."

"My wife likes my look just fine."

"Wife, wow! Man!" Xander said in surprise.

"I have a kid too." Morgan turned a picture on his desk for his visitor to see." Morgan waited a beat, "You could have had that, if you took a different path, Maybe you still could. You're a young man."

"What makes you think I want to strangle myself with that?" Xander asked, showing the first chink in his glossy façade.

"Really. Oh, that's right, they were just meal tickets, those 14 women you married. They meant nothing. And the girls you ran before that, they were just your employees."

"Exactly." Xander said, a bit of unease creeping into his voice, "The world is my oyster. Besides, if I don't take care of me, who will?"

Morgan saw the flash of sadness in those grey green eyes. He knew he had him. Reaching across his desk, he flipped open a folder and read aloud.

"When you cleaned up Marcy Jones' mother awhile her nurse was watching DR. Phil, then gave the woman the boot, and started coming over unannounced when the new nurse got hired, to make sure the job was done right. When you showed up to Sarah Folly's kids ball games, when you spent hours with Carla Whitney's Autistic son, helping him with his homework, all that was looking out for number one? You know I couldn't understand why the prosecutor couldn't get any of these women to file charges against you. You cleaned out their savings. You used them for your own pleasure. You made a mockery of your vows when you married Angela Duncan and Alicia Putnam at the same time, and even had two kids with Alicia."

"I am paying support for my kids." Xander crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, You're behind but you are paying something. So that's what got me looking through the interviews with these women and that's when I found out that you cared, Maybe not about them but about what mattered to them. That's when I realized you were more than just the gigolo I picked up in Chicago on those pandering charges 16 years ago."

Xander shrugged, "I may have broken their hearts, but I gave those women the first real happiness many of them had known in a long time. Some of them had never experienced the pleasure I gave them in their lives. When I was running my girls, I never kept any of them on the street after they said they wanted out. Hell, that one girl Jenn! I even drove to a hospital so she could get clean. I'm not a monster."

"I know," Morgan said, "that's why I'm offering you the chance to be a part of something where you can do a lot more good than just stocking shelves at Kroger."

"Wait…wait….Hold the doors please!" The young woman's cries caught the attention of the elevator's sole occupant.

Spencer Reid hit the button to hold the elevator. He watched the petite, young woman with the mane of auburn hair that fell to her waist rush forward. Her cheeks were flushed from the effort of running with a large, lavender backpack on her shoulders. She was dressed in a Kelly green, thigh length skirt and a rose pink blouse topped with a long multi-colored scarf tied carelessly around her neck. The pink, 2 inch heel, ankle high boots she wore were completely unsuitable for the pace she was moving at, especially when combined with the weight on her slender shoulders. Reid wasn't surprised when she lost her balance as she boarded the elevator. Reid stepped forward on instinct, and caught her as she went down, but not before she lost her grip on the drink she was carrying.

Aurora flushed as she fell against the young man, spilling her hot drink on both of them.

"I'm sorry," she began, slipping free of his steadying hands She glanced up into his face and blinked in surprised recognition.

"Spencer Reid, of all the elevators in all the world I run in to you here."" Aurora said, feeling even worse about the collision.

"Do we know each other?" Reid asked.

"We met years ago when I came to live with Aunt Melinda." Aurora answered. "I was about ten years old at the time. You were very kind to me." Aurora said. She didn't add that she had also developed a serious crush on him in the three weeks during which he had stayed at Dreamer's end, the street name of the foster home owned by Literature professor Melinda LeClair while settling his mother into Bennington Sanitarium. Noticing his continued blank look, Aurora went on; Aunt Melinda brought me with her when she came to see your mom. How is Miss Diana by the way?"

Reid studied her face closely while listening to her voice. She had an indeterminate accent, something between the drawl of the Deep South, possibly Louisiana and the clipped, precise intonations of the Hispanic culture. Her face had an elfin quality, pale and delicate with a sprinkling of freckles and eyes a startling shade of violet blue. Immediately, Reid placed her.

"Aurora Ashleen Carstairs, your Aunt taught with my mom. When I had my mother…."Your parents had died in an accident."

Reid stopped himself. She probably didn't need to be reminded that her parents had died right in front of her. He certainly didn't want to talk about having his mother committed. She seemed to understand, offering him a warm smile.

"I never forgot how kind you were and how you didn't treat me like a victim." Aurora said, "And you're the only one that calls me Aurora Ashleen like my parents did. I've missed that. Everyone just calls me Aurora or Rorri."

Reid returned her smile. He started to reach out to hit the button for 6 then asked, "What floor are you going to?"

"6," Aurora told him, "I hope this person I'm meeting isn't a jerk. I think I'm going to be a few minutes late."

Reid smiled to himself.

"You'll be fine." Reid assured her, he added, "I haven't forgotten that Melinda is one of the few people from Mom's teaching days that have remained a true friend. Even now when she doesn't remember her half the time. She still shows up."

"That's Aunt Melinda, loyal to the end." Aurora responded fondly. The elevator chimed softly and the doors swished open, revealing glass doors, the FBI insignia emblazoned on them.

"How much of a tight ass is Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan?" Aurora began, "I mean is he going to be seriously pissed if I'm another couple minutes late? I really don't want to look like a klutz when I meet him. I have enough stereotypes to disprove."

Reid wondered what Aurora meant about stereotypes. But that thought was overshadowed by the mention of his friend and former team mate. _So he decided to come back after all_ , Reid mused.

Aurora was staring fixedly at Reid and he brought his thoughts back to the moment.

"You'll be fine. He'll understand." Reid told her. He pointed down a side hall.

"The women's rest room is the Second door on the right, "Then when you come back go through these doors and up the stairs."

Aurora thanked him, casually flicking back her hair as she spoke then turned and rushed off, leaving Reid bemused. He squared his shoulders, preparing for a meeting of his own. Then decided he too could benefit from a quick trip to the wash room.

"I knew you'd make the right decision," Morgan said, standing and moving toward the door.

"I still don't understand, why me?" Xander asked, "I mean I get that it takes a con artist to know one and I have some hacking skill. But petty criminals are a dime a dozen."

"Don't remind me," Morgan answered, "I chose you because I wanted someone that would care about the victims."

Xander nodded. "Tubs needs Crocket." Xander grinned as he spoke.

"There are a few others on our team, and we'll be working alongside the Behavioral Analysis Unit." Morgan explained, He started to turn the knob on his office door then stopped, "Oh and Xander, around the rest of the team, you call me Morgan or agent Morgan, You do not call me Tubs."

"Whatever you say Tubs." Xander said in an unrepentant tone. Morgan rolled his eyes as he pushed open the door and led the way down to the bullpen, pointing to a desk, "That's yours," Morgan told him.

Xander flicked a glance at the non-descript desk and chair, a computer, desk tray, and mouse pad sitting atop the desk.

"Very homey," Xander said rolling his eyes.

"You won't be sitting there much if you do your job right." Morgan said.

"It is so good to see you back where you belong!" a woman's joyous voice rang out. Morgan broke into a wide grin at the sight of FBI technical analyst Penelope Garcia rushing toward him. She was clad in a flowing, burgundy skirt and a print blouse with 3 quarter length sleeves. The frames of her glasses had purple cats on them and she wore a single flower of the same color in her hair. She rushed to Morgan, enveloping him in a fierce hug which he returned.

"Baby Girl, it's so good to see you too." Morgan greeted her.

Xander's gaze was riveted on the new arrival.

"Hello, I love you!" he said, stepping forward, taking her hand and raising it to his lips.

With cat like quickness, Garcia yanked back her hand. She started to raise her palm as if to slap the man's face then stopped herself.

"Your first task is going to be to read the HR literature on sexual harassment in the work place, "Morgan told Xander. He gave the former hustler a hard look.

Xander feigned a contrite expression, "My apologies, I forgot myself, I was so dazzled by your radiance." Xander told the woman before him.

"Xander, this is technical analyst Penelope Garcia. Penelope, this is Xander Gallagher, He'll be working with us as part of the UIU. Team."

"You picked this…man for your team?" Garcia asked.

"I did, you'll hear all about it when we gather."

"Well," Garcia said; flustered by the unwanted attention combined with the news she would be dealing with this lothario. "Welcome to the auxiliary Investigation unit. I look forward to working with you MR. Gallagher, or is that agent?"

Garcia was surprised to see the blonde man's features harden at her words, his eyes, which had been dancing with merriment became hard as jade.

"My father was MR. Gallagher, I'm xander." Xander balled his hands into fists.

"Sorry," Garcia mumbled, starting to turn away. Morgan put a restraining hand on her arm.

"You did nothing wrong Baby Girl." He glared at Xander who decided it was time to acclimate himself to his desk. He turned away, colliding with a red haired young woman moving toward the stairs.

Sorry I'm late," Reid spoke breathlessly as he dropped into one of the visitor chairs in Emily Prentice's tastefully furnished office.

The tall, dark haired figure of Aaron Hotchner, (Hotch to his friends), stood by the window. He crossed the room to shake Reid's hand. Emily brought Reid a cup of coffee.

"Thank you for coming in early." Emily said.

"What's going on?" Reid asked. Deciding to sate his own curiosity he asked, "Is it True Morgan's back with the team?"

"Morgan's back," Hotch stated, "But he's not with the Behavioral Analysis unit."

At his shocked look, Emily added, "He's starting his own team. They will be working alongside of us in certain cases that are more…" Emily trailed off, searching for the word she wanted, "Complicated."

"Like MR. Scratch?" Reid asked.

"If that situation taught us anything it's that there is a need for a parallel investigatory unit to assist in certain situations so that incidents like Scratch or the Reaper don't get out of hand."

"They will also be following up on the aftermath that can accompany some cases that local law enforcement doesn't have the resources and the BAU doesn't have the time to pursue," Hotch explained.

"In both those cases, people were put in danger, lives were lost. The team was trying to stop a threat against them and continue to carry on as usual."" Prentice said.

"We stopped them in both those instances." Reid began. He stopped himself, remembering the cost. The months Hotch spent apart from his son, the death of his x-wife, The year the senior agent and his child spent in WITSEC. His memory also jumped to criminals like Tommy Yaits (the man Rossi visited every year on his birthday to get the name of a new victim.), John Curtis, aka the Replicator who had tormented the team by alternating between mimicking the cases they solved and stalking the team members, even as there was other work to do.

"It's interesting you brought up Morgan." Emily said. She reached into her desk and brought a file to Reid.

"I told Derek he could pick his own team," Hotch explained.

"So we're losing Garcia?" Reid guessed.

"He asked for Penelope and I approved that transfer and one other," Emily told him. "He said he wanted the best. He asked for 2 individuals and Hotch has already approved the transfers pending their acceptance."

Reid saw the direction the conversation was going.

"Why?" Reid asked, "I've been handling my work. I completed the counseling…."

Emily regarded Spencer with a kind gaze.

"You've done everything the bureau asked. You've performed your duties better than I thought. You would be able to manage with your situation with your mom combined with what you went through." Prentice told him. "That's why when Derek said he wanted you to be a part of his group; I didn't hesitate to give my approval.

"This is not a bad thing." Hotch added, "And the decision is still yours."

"But you really want me to take it." Reid pressed.

"We want you to consider it." Hotch said. "Whatever you decide, your choice will be respected. You should know, there will be less travel with this position."

"I thought you said we would be working alongside the BAU?" Reid Challenged.

"On many cases, yes," Prentice said, "But not all of them." This first one however, will be a joint effort."

Aurora entered the office of Special agent Derek Morgan, wishing she had another cup of some kind of caffeinated beverage to calm her nerves. The muscular, bald, black man sat, with feet planted on the desk, rubbing his forehead.

"Peppermint oil would help with the headache." Aurora volunteered, dropping into a visitors chair uninvited, and taking off her pack.

"The word on the streets is you're knowledgeable about herbal remedies. "Morgan stated, swinging his feet to the floor and straightening."I'm glad you made it Aurora, I wasn't sure, based on our prior correspondence, if you would show up."

"I had a small accident." Aurora stated, being deliberately evasive. She added, "I almost didn't come."

"We need your expertise and for this case, we need your unique cultural insight. Not just your book learning…" Morgan said.

"You need a Gypsy, that's what you're saying!" Aurora interrupted.

Morgan nodded. He picked up a file and read.

"Until you were ten years old you lived with your parents, they were aerialists with the Starlight Carnival and circus, a company composed mostly of Creole and Romani staff. Your parents were Romani. Karleen and Andre Carstairs both fell to their death during a practice…You ended up at Dreamers End, a foster care facility in Las Vegas Nevada. But you left there at age 15 and went back down south."

"I was emancipated." Aurora snapped. The fed seemed nonplussed. Aurora went on, "Look, I get it, you think because I was raised among Gypsies I have a criminal disposition which I don't. What no one gets is that life as a Romani isn't a Scher song. In fact, many Romani are hard working ordinary people who like everyone else who come here, are trying to make their way in this country and live the American dream. Not all Gypsies are tramps and thieves. Surely you get that!"

Morgan nodded in understanding. He studied the young woman; her eyes were an icy blue, her nostrils flared in anger. She was sitting ramrod straight, her hands clinched in her lap."I can't think of a better way to make sure Gypsies get a fair shake than having someone on our team to help us understand the cultural nuances of a society hostile to outsiders. We want to make sure we take down the right people."

"So you **are** interested in fact?" Aurora ventured.

Morgan nodded in ascent. "This is a very different team from anything the FBI has put together in the past. Only two of us are sworn agents, everyone else is a civilian like you. We have a briefing with the entire team in 20 minutes. I hope your presence here now means you are willing to join this team. You'll still be able to continue with your other work, in fact, I encourage you to maintain those contacts. They could be helpful for what you'll be doing."

Aurora considered a moment then shrugged.

"Just tell me you people don't have a caffeine ban in here.

"Absolutely not!" Morgan replied, "There would be a full scale mutiny if they ever did that. Let me give you a quick tour."

Aurora grinned and stood up, holding out her hand. "You've got yourself a Gypsy expert." Aurora said.

Morgan took the proffered hand. He returned her grin as her tiny hand was enveloped by his larger one.

Spencer Reid was adding his third sugar to a cup of coffee when he heard footsteps entering the kitchen. He turned to find Agent Jenifer Jarreau (JJ) entering the room.

"Hey Spence," The pretty blonde greeted him, "Emily moved up our briefing, so thought I'd take the chance to grab a cup of coffee and some quiet time. Michael was up all night with an ear ache."

"Reid didn't respond. He stepped back to allow JJ access to the coffee pot.

"Something wrong Spence?" JJ inquired, studying her friend closely.

"Morgan's back, did you know?" Reid said flatly.

"I heard," JJ responded, pouring herself a cup of coffee and stirring in cream and sugar, "I hear they're letting him pick his team."

"He asked for me." Reid persisted.

"I'm not surprised." JJ commented, "Morgan's always been closest to you and Penelope. It's only natural you'd be his first pick."

"I suppose, Reid said, taking a thoughtful sip of coffee. "It's just…."

"It's just you don't like change," JJ finished Reid's thought.

The young genius nodded. "In the BAU I always knew my roll. I understood how I could be of help. I don't understand why Morgan would feel I'd do better on this team than the BAU."

"I think it's just Derek wanting the people whose skills he knows would help him the most." JJ said, offering a reassuring smile."And you'll still be working with us a lot if what I hear is correct."

Reid returned JJ's smile. She was probably right. He heard agents Matt Simmons and Luke Elvez, moving toward the kitchen, debating the previous night's Red Skins game by the sound of it. Not quite in the mood to chat about all of this again, Reid eased out of the kitchen. He glanced at his watch and headed for the round table room to meet his new team.

Penelope Garcia took her accustomed place at the round table, remote at the ready. The first person to arrive was Xander Gallagher, he was carrying two mugs. He held one out to Garcia.

"I come baring an olive branch to make up for my earlier boldness." Xander greeted her.

"Is it also to make up for your rudeness?" Garcia inquired in an arch tone.

"My father is a touchy issue." Xander responded, "You couldn't have known that."

"Apology accepted," Garcia replied, taking the proffered mug. She took a sip, surprised to discover he had prepared one of the lattes she preferred.

"You strike me as a Latte lady; please tell me I'm right." Xander said, feeling oddly like he was fourteen and asking out the prettiest girl in school.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Garcia's tone was cool.

"I'm not going to win with you am I?" Xander asked, beginning to feel exasperated.

Before Garcia could frame a response, Spencer Reid slouched into the room; he glanced curiously between the pair before taking a seat at the far end of the table. Xander glided to the other end of the table and grabbed Reid's hand, pumping it hardily. Garcia noted only the faintest of grimaces on the young agent's face at the touch. He did seem to be less germ phobic since his imprisonment experience.

"I'm Xander Gallagher," Xander said.

"Spencer Reid." The profiler answered, "Nice to meet you. Are you new to the bureau, I don't think I've heard your name before."

"Lord no, I'm no cop!" Xander answered, his eyes widening and his expression becoming slightly horrified,

Reid gave him a puzzled look, wondering why he was in this meeting and wishing he'd back off. Xander didn't seem to understand personal space and his cologne was extremely cloying. The door opened and both men turned to see who was entering. A broad smile broke over Spencer Reid's face as Aurora Carstairs entered the room.

Aurora almost lost her grip on her second coffee of the day when she spotted the object of her girlish dreams seated at the round table next to a pretty boy type. Aurora found it interesting that Spencer Reid still made her heart skip a few beats when he smiled. There was an easy approachability to the man.

Garcia had noted the change in Reid's attitude. Where he had been displaying signs of nervous tension when he entered the room, the instant the red haired woman arrived, his posture changed completely. She also observed the woman's look of delighted surprise. _Item number one on the to do list, find out what the story is between those two. Boy Wonder has clearly been holding out_ , Penelope decided.

"Is this where the uxillery Investigation Unit meeting is supposed to be?" Aurora asked, unable to quite believe she would actually be working with the man who had helped her find her voice again. A blonde woman who dressed like a Gypsy and whose demeanor reminded Aurora of Eden Annnodded, offering a friendly smile.

"You've come to the right place," the woman told her, "I'm Penelope Garcia, MR. GQ over there is Xander Gallagher and the Pretty boy grinning like a fool over there I think you know."

"We meet again Spencer," Aurora greeted him, breezing past Xander and sliding into the chair beside Spencer Reid who continued smiling, forgetting about the others in the room.

"You're an agent? How does Aunt Melinda feel about that?" Reid asked.

"You two are related?" Garcia inquired.

A flicker of sadness played on Aurora's pretty features for an instant at Garcia's question. She covered it with a light laugh.

"Melinda Laclaire, has been friends with my mother since their student days. The title aunt is honorary." Reid explained.

"Everyone calls her aunt," Aurora added.

Derek Morgan stood for a few minutes on the catwalk, watching his team enter the round table room, noting each of their moods. Garcia was excited and purposeful while, Xander, tried to be casually cool, he didn't entirely cover a hint of nerves. Reid seemed a little lost and cautious. Finally Aurora, brisk and ready for a battle. "They're certainly an unlikely group." Hotch stated, walking up along side of him.

"You have concerns Hotch?" Morgan inquired.

"About Reid and Garcia, not at all. They work well together and they both know how to take direction and are comfortable with you. Reid's bounced back exceptionally well and we both know Garcia works well with you."

"Gallagher and Aurora are wild cards. Both of them can handle themselves out in the field, they're street smart and have connections in that world, especially Aurora."

"Does she know anything about this first case?" Hotch inquired.

"I think it's best to brief her at the same time as the others."

"Emily will give you 20 minutes to explain their roll before the others join you for the full briefing." Hotch stated, "It's good to have you back."

Hotch clapped the other man on the shoulder and Derek Morgan descended the steps and strode to the round table room to brief his team.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimor

I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters

Note: Raul and Dorien are the father and son in the Gypsy family from the season 4 episode Blood Line. They were never named in the episode but for story purposes, I needed to name them.

Morgan stepped into the round table room and all eyes turned to the tall, dark skinned agent as he made his way to the head of the table, the chair occupied for so long by his friend and mentor Aaron Hotchner. He had sat here for a time before temporarily while the team hunted for George Foyet. Still, it felt strange to take this place. Morgan supposed he would grow into it.

"Good morning everyone," Morgan said, lowering himself into his chair. "I see you've all made introductions."

We've started, Tubbs." Xander stated, drawing quizzical looks from the others. Morgan gave the younger man a stern look.

"I thought we discussed this Gallagher." Morgan said coolly.

"I understand why Garcia and I are here," Reid began, "Emily and Hotch were vague about what this team is and how it will function."

"Then we'll start there," Morgan said.

"The auxiliary Investigation Unit is designed to go a step further than The BAU or local law enforcement. In many cases particularly some of the ones the BAU handles, the unsub we take down for the specific case we've been called in on is connected to, or part of something larger. Their capture brings to light other criminal activity, or the potential for more. Then there are cases where the criminal tries to retaliate against us for ending their fun."

Garcia and Reid shared a look, each remembering cases that impacted them directly where the Behavioral Analysis Unit itself was targeted.

"After 2 cases the BAU dealt with in the last two years, the brass decided a team like this was necessary to handle the branch off cases so the team itself could focus on moving forward, even when these kinds of situations came up." Morgan adjusted the position of his tablet on the table top, "Rather than simply creating another team of profilers, it was decided that we needed a group that could get into their heads in a different way."

"It takes a criminal to know a criminal?" Xander guessed. Gesturing at Garcia and Reid Xander asked, "But how do they fit. They're agents?"

Morgan took a deep breath, "Each of you has a special and unique perspective on criminal behavior and psychology that goes beyond case work and book learning." Morgan turned to Garcia, "Penelope Garcia was a skilled hacker who caught the bureau's attention when she hacked our system. Alexander Gallagher started out as a pimp in Chicago. Eventually he moved on to an impressive array of cons and computer frauds that left some of the bureaus best and brightest computer forensics guys shaking their heads."

Garcia glanced curiously at Xander who was giving her a dubious look; not at all sure he believed Morgan's words.

The senior agent glanced down the table, giving Reid an apologetic look, knowing what he was about to say was bound to make his friend uncomfortable. There was no way around it he knew, but Morgan regretted it.

"DR. Spencer Reid spent 3 months living among hardened criminals. He had been framed for murder."

Reid fidgeted in his seat, letting his gaze drop and quietly fuming. Did Morgan really need to talk about his ordeal to a these strangers. _Be honest, you just don't want Aurora Ashleen to see you as other than her white knight from her childhood_ , Reid chided himself. He risked a glance at his old friend, she leaned forward, her hair falling across her cheek. She brushed it back impatiently. It seemed Aurora was on the verge of saying something. But as Morgan went on, Aurora's entire demeanor changed again.

"Aurora Carstairs, while earning a degree in European History, focusing on nomadic cultures, in particular, Romani, she has been a member of the Fallen Angels."

"Sounds like a stable of exceptionally skilled prostitutes, maybe a high end escort service." Xander winked suggestively.

"And you'd know all about prostitution." Aurora sneered at the hustler, giving him a disgusted look.

"Actually, it's a unique outreach that assists run away and throw away kids by creating safe, judgement free spaces where they can come and interact with individuals who have chosen a less high risk life." Reid explained. He turned to Aurora, smiling appreciatively, "The kind of group Aunt Melinda would approve of."

"They're not related," Garcia whispered to Morgan whose eye-brows lifted at Reid's words.

Aurora felt a swell of pride as Reid turned an appreciative gaze her way. She was impressed he had such a strong grasp of what her work entailed. She was grateful Morgan had not mentioned her ethnicity.

"Spencer's description of Fallen Angels is simplistic but accurate." Aurora said, "Fallen Angels does host events in donated warehouse space. We set them up like raves. Kids can come in; if they work in the streets they can ply their trades, so long as no one is forced. Weapons aren't allowed and violence is not tolerated. If kids want to make any change, they can talk to people there who have been where they are, people like me. We get them what they ask for, no more, no less, no questions, no strings. We also walk the streets: We mediate disputes; we offer an encouraging word, a warm blanket, a ride to the bus depot and a ticket to wherever they think they need to go. Whatever is required?"

Morgan noticed a skeptical look come over Xander's face while Garcia was regarding the other woman with admiration. Morgan smiled to himself. He might have known something like Fallen Angels would capture Penelope's interest.

"Really, you just handed out charity on the streets and didn't tell girls to respect themselves and stop turning tricks or tell dealers to stop selling drugs. You just let them carry on?"

"We don't call it charity though," Aurora responded, fixing the pretty boy with a cold glare. "We aren't that far removed from who and what they are. We try to give them what we were seeking, at their age. What the system often can't or won't give them, acceptance, understanding and empathy."

"So what law did you break college girl?" Xander challenged, still skeptical.

Now it was Reid who turned a hostile gaze on the hustler.

 _Someone's got more than fond familial feelings, honorary or otherwise for the flame haired Aurora_ , Xander thought to himself, _wonder if he's read the sexual harassment policy_?

"It's okay Spencer," Aurora said quickly, "As I'm sure Agent Morgan would have gotten around to mentioning before he was interrupted, until Aunt Melinda helped me face some home truths about why I was living the way I was, I ran up a bit of a rap sheet of my own. I had seen the inside of a police station and spent some time in booking for pick pocketing and running some short cons. I'm sure nothing as elaborate as your action." Aurora said this last with a sarcastic smirk on her lips that had Xander contemplating the grain in the table top.

Penelope Garcia stifled a giggle at the take down of this cock of the walk. Morgan too put a hand to his mouth to cover a grin. Even Spencer couldn't suppress a small laugh. He felt his admiration for Aurora growing as he observed her behavior. There was not a trace of the sad, broken little girl who wouldn't speak and sat staring at a family photo contained in a cheap, brass locket. Here beside him sat a strong, confident young woman who owned all parts of her life and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. He was going to appreciate working with such an individual. Reid wondered what had guided Aurora's choice of study.

There was a knock on the door; Emily Prentice stuck her head in the room.

"Are you ready for us, Derek?" she asked.

Morgan would have liked a little more time to talk about his expectations. The mini skirmishes of the group had cut into that. But Morgan knew the discussion had been necessary, and maybe it was better to let them feel each other out that way. So he nodded to the BAU team leader.

Reid glanced at the door, watching as those on the team he'd been a part of for most of his Career with the FBI entered.

First to enter was dark haired Emily Prentice, in a dark grey pantsuit with a red blouse and matching black leather boots. She took a seat across from Morgan and to the left of Garcia. Next was the stylish David Rossi, his snow white Goatee neatly trimmed. He wore a rust colored suit jacket and pants of the same hew, and expensive, Italian leather shoes.

"Hey kid," Rossi greeted Reid as he took a seat to his left. Reid turned to his right and saw that Aurora was regarding his friend with avid interest, she leaned toward Reid.

"Aunt Melinda would love to make him husband number lucky 7." Aurora whispered, "When I brought home his Anthology Twisted hearts, Aunt Melinda looked at his book jacket photo like a dog eyeing a t-bone steak."

Reid couldn't suppress a laugh.

"Anything you want to share with the class," Rossi smiled as he spoke. Aurora flushed crimson and Reid began fumbling in pockets for writing implements.

"I think they were admiring your tie." DR. Tara Lewis suggested as she settled in a chair beside the bestselling author.

"I heard steak, so maybe they were hoping for an invite to Rossi's." JJ stated taking her place to Aurora's right.

"Did someone mention steak, who's buying?" Luke Elvez wanted to know as he and Matt Simmons joined the group. Simmons started to close the door then stopped as one more figure entered. Section chief Aaron Hotchner remained apart from the group, leaning against a wall on the far side of the room. When everyone was seated, Emily Prentice stood and gestured the room to silence. Introductions were made for both teams. The meeting then began with Emily Prentice taking the lead.

"Both of our groups will be working parallel on certain cases. The way this will work is that the BAU will take the lead, working with local authorities and then requesting the Auxiliary Investigation Unit. They will develop additional leads while we move on to other cases."

"What kind of additional leads?" Aurora asked.

Prentice and Morgan exchanged a look then Morgan spoke."That can take on different forms on a case by case basis."

There was a long pause, and then Hotch stepped to the Plasma screen, pointing the remote and showing a picture of a family, a blond haired woman, a tall man with shaggy hair and pitted skin, and a boy of about ten years old with shaggy, dark hair falling in his face. Aurora stifled a gasp. She had seen them before. She remembered them all too well. She felt rage swirl inside of her. _How much do they know? Why didn't they stop it?_ Aurora wondered.

"The Gypsies that were grabbing young girls as wives for their sons and killing the parents as a forensic counter measure?" Rossi said.

"That was while I was on maternity leave," JJ brushed back her hair.

"It was the last case before you came back" Hotch said. "In order to gain the cooperation of Kathy Grey aka Sylvia," Hotch indicated the blonde woman, "We had to allow her to see her son one last time before he was taken into juvenile detention. During that meeting she admonished him not to tell authorities about his brothers."

"He didn't either." Prentice said, regarding the picture of the boy thoughtfully. "We tried everything.""We attempted to search for these brothers but there wasn't much of a digital footprint."

Aurora stood, keeping her voice calm as she spoke. "Did you ever think of looking for his sisters?" Aurora's glance moved around the table. JJ's eyes widened in horror, Garcia looked like she was going to be physically ill, Rossi and Prentice shifted guiltily in their seats, Spencer had gone pale, Lewis, Simmons, and Elvez wore expressions of concern but they seemed to be taking things in, in an impassive manner by their silence, Aurora decided they hadn't been in on the case. Only Morgan and section chief Hotchner seemed completely composed. Though Aurora thought she detected a fleeting look of regret in the section chief's eyes before he slammed a carefully neutral expression on his face.

The reactions of the others kindled long restrained feelings Aurora thought she had locked away. Again, she thought of Eden Anne, seeing her face pressed against the window of the trailer before the woman Sylvia pulled her out of sight.

"You couldn't have thought every baby she had was a boy, or that the other men's wives had only sons. What did you think they did with girl children? Did you even give them a thought or were you just as dismissive as they were?"

Reid met Aurora's piercing gaze.

"We should have considered that. Statistically, there was an equal chance of there being girl children." He gave his friend a look of apology.

"Do you know what they might have done with those daughters?" Rossi asked. His voice was kind and the look he gave Aurora was, like Spencer's, apologetic.

"Yeah, I do?" Aurora folded her arms across her chest, still angered by the memories, though she felt some of her rage ebbing in the face of David Rossi's compassion. He reminded her of Melinda's husband Dallas, the only man her foster mother married more than once. She took a deep breath, "Usually they killed girl children, left them in dumpsters and like that. Sometimes they let them live and kept them around a while, but not past 2 or 3, then they got rid of them, gave them to other bands or sold them. The men usually did it, but sometimes they just handed the baby to whoever delivered it and told them to take care of it."

"Are you sure about all this?" JJ's tone of voice was full of incredulity and rankled Aurora's nerves.

Aurora turned her fury on Derek Morgan, "You knew, didn't you?"

"We weren't 100% certain until just now." Morgan kept his gaze steady. He hadn't intended the meeting to go this way. He had hoped they could ease into confirming what the evidence had suggested about Aurora Carstairs.

"You were one of the girls?"Reid broke into the silence that descended. He furrowed his brow and Aurora could see him putting the pieces together, "It all makes sense, your behavior when you first arrived at Aunt Melinda's, your selective silence and your knowledge of what was done to girl children. Only someone who lived within the culture would have such extensive knowledge of their practices."

Aurora gave a faint smile and nodded. "Aunt Melinda didn't advertise my heritage because of societal biases."

"We believe Aurora's parents were murdered because they stumbled onto this perversion of Romani culture and may have threatened to expose it." Hotch brought the meeting back on track."That's part of the reason Morgan selected her for this team. It's time to cut this particular branch out of the Romani population and hold those males involved with it accountable for their actions."

Aurora resumed her seat. She glanced at Reid; _please don't let him pity me_ she thought. But she saw only understanding in his look.

Hotch handed the remote to Garcia who brought up a new picture. This was a picture of a smiling family. A broad shouldered man with a full beard, his attractive, chestnut haired, oval faced wife, and their ten year old daughter who wore her brown hair in braids.

"Meet the Rivers family." Garcia began, "She clicked the remote, Phil and Marylyn Rivers were found dead in their bed this morning, their 9 year old daughter Miriam gone. This happened in Davisville Mississippi. The sheriff there has a fishing buddy who happened to be working the case in Alabama we worked and he suggested the Mississippi Sherriff call us to see if this was another branch of that particular creepy family tree."

"The BAU will start trying to run down the family using case work but the AIU will begin a wider search, so that we can try and bring the rest of the family to justice." Prentice said, "The clock is ticking for Miriam and who knows how many others."

"Will we all be going to Mississippi?" Reid wanted to know.

"Yes," Morgan said, "Initially anyway. The plane leaves in an hour. Reid, I want you and Aurora in the streets, Garcia, you and Gallagher will track migratory patterns and crime waves to see if we can find a pattern that way."

"You won't get anywhere through those channels," Aurora told him, "Like Agent Prentice said before, we gypsies are a low tech crowd. All you'll find are complaints and arrests for small crimes that result in misdemeanors. They'll be long gone by the time we get there. This branch as stayed off law enforcement's radar for generations and they've done it by staying in the shadows."

"So how do we find them?" Garcia asked.

Aurora stood once more, beginning to pace and gesturing as she spoke, "You look for the people they engaged with. Primarily we stick to within the community but there are times when it is necessary to deal with individuals outside. Those are the ones who might point you in the right direction. Look at pawn shop owners, fences, hackers, and forgers. Probably especially the latter two. They wouldn't exactly be going to the hospitals when their women were giving birth or having birth certificates and drivers licenses made up at city offices. Too many questions."

"So maybe even midwives?" JJ ventured.

"Aurora shook her head, "the midwives they would use would be people in the Romani community who would not ask questions."

Garcia and Xander looked to Morgan who nodded, "Start compiling a list of likely contacts they'd use then and see what you can find out about who they dealt with and how."

"We might have to get creative to accomplish that task," Xander said.

Morgan glanced at Garcia who gave a slight inclination of her head.

"Do what you need to do," Morgan said.

"Alright, people, wheels up in 60." Hotch said."

"Wheels up, what does that mean?" Aurora asked.

"It means you have an hour to get a bag together for a few days trip." Morgan said as he pushed up from his chair.

"Thanks for the advanced warning," Xander scowled, "I need an hour just to pack never mind the time to get back to my place to do it."

"My backpack's at my desk, just tell me what airline terminal to be at." Aurora stood to leave.

Morgan and Hotch exchanged a look.

"There is a child's future in the balance which means the clock is ticking, otherwise I'd give you the time." Morgan said. He scribbled an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Aurora then did the same for Xander

"Derek maybe Xander and I would be more effective if we were both here."Garcia suggested.

"Baby Girl, you're a part of this team, you're coming along too." Morgan's grin widened as his friend blushed furiously and fidgeted in her seat.

"I'm going in the field. I never go in the field. I don't have a go bag." Garcia rung her hands together and glanced nervously to Hotch, He gave Garcia a faint smile.

"Then I guess you better get your little butt moving." Morgan gave her a look of encouragement.

Just before the room emptied, Hotch spoke, "Your groups will work on their own in the future but for this first case, the deputy director suggested I go along." Hotch noted Morgan's annoyed expression and Prentice's raised eye-brows. He remembered the affect Strouse had when she joined them in the field. "I promise, you won't even know I'm there unless it's necessary, or you want to involve me."

"Sure," Prentice said.

"Okay man," Morgan shrugged.

The room quickly emptied out. Spencer Reid remained behind. "Is Aurora on this team because of her work with Fallen Angels or because she's a Gypsy?"

"I'll see you guys on the jet," Emily Prentice said as she gathered up her folders. Hotch started to follow her but Reid called to him, "you knew, Morgan picked his team but you had to approve."

Hotch stopped, "I agreed with Morgan's choices and his reasons for them. I believe Aurora's background as well as her work will make her an asset to this team."

"I picked her because of her work in the streets, because of her work with Fallen Angels, she knows how to reach people who can help us but won't be willing to come down town and talk to law enforcement. I knew one thing we would be working on was going back to find the rest of Dorien's brothers. So yes, I was looking for someone who might know how to penetrate a closed society. We'd hit dead ends with the brothers so I wondered if there were sisters. I didn't really expect we'd end up recruiting one.

Reid glanced between the two older men then nodded.

"It wasn't fair to blindside her," Reid shifted on his feet, digging his hands into his pockets.

"That wasn't the plan Kid," Morgan said, "And is that really what your upset about, or are you pissed because I alluded to what happened to you in front of people outside the family."

"You could have let me explain about why I lived with criminals." Reid admitted, "But Aurora's a friend and the past, especially the part of it where she was with her family is painful. I don't like seeing friends hurt."

"She's lucky she has a friend with her on this team," Hotch regarded Reid kindly, "It may make this case easier for her."

Reid nodded then picked up his messenger bag and left the room. As he strolled through the bullpen, He spotted Aurora hunched over one of the desks. He changed course and headed to where she sat staring pensively at a piece of paper. Reid leaned over her shoulder to study the page. It contained a child's drawing. The picture depicted a brightly colored trailer, with red curtains on the window. A girl's face peered out from the window. She looked to be between 10 and 12years old and very blonde.

"Who is she?" Though Reid's voice was gentle, Aurora started when she heard it, spinning around and then smiling at her friend.

"I didn't hear you."

"Sorry," Reid moved around and perched on the edge of the desk, "Is she a friend from the carnival?"

Aurora took a deep breath. She knew she should tell the team about her private quest but after all this time, she was reluctant to tell strangers what she had seen. _Spencer will understand. He'll help me make the others understand too and maybe we can save Eden Anne_ , Aurora told herself.

"Her name is Anne." Sylvia and Raul had her with them when they came to Starlight. Raul and his older son Nico worked as Roustabouts for a while and Sylvia helped with cooking chores. They were just passing through. They had a younger son Dorien."

Aurora watched Reid's expression. His brow creased as he took in Aurora's words and quickly put the pieces together.

"Anne was taken the way Miriam and the other girls were.?

"That's right. Anne was her real name but the family called her Eden. I've called her by both names. It's my way of honoring who she was while knowing who she is now. I failed her before but I've never given up hope."

Reid nodded his understanding. "How did you learn her real name?" Reid asked.

"We talked through the window for a while. Then Sylvia pulled her away and told her to come help her. She was crying. She begged me to get her help. Raul came out and told me not to speak of what I saw She was Nico's wife now."

"Who did you tell?" Reid leaned forward, gently placing a hand on Aurora's shoulder.

Taking another shaky breath Aurora spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, "My parents."

"Your silence makes more sense now."

"Can we talk about something else please? "

"Like?" Reid asked.

"You're Career, Aunt Melinda's love life, I don't care."

Reid thought for a minute, "How about the case?"

Aurora nodded slowly; "Tell me about this other case," Aurora asked, "Take me through what you learned."

Reid knew it would be even more helpful if Aurora told him more about her life with her family, but her troubled expression told the young profiler this was not the time. So he took her through the case, starting with the attack at the home of the Hale family, the murder of the parents, Jeff and Nancy Hale and the abduction of their 10 year old daughter Kate. He explained how Kate was eventually released when the kidnappers discovered she was Epileptic.

"They believed she was cursed," Aurora interrupted, "She would bring bad fortune and would pass the curse on to any children she might bare. She's lucky she wasn't killed."

"Kathy Grey eventually confessed her husband wanted her to kill Kate." Reid said.

Aurora nodded for Reid to go on. As he did so, telling her how after talking to Kate, they understood it was a family they were looking for. He took her through the steps of the investigation, their creation of a profile, the similar attack on the Roubolard family and the eventual capture of Raul Trevelyan, his wife Sylvia and son Dorien. As he recounted the events, Spencer Reid felt the knots of tension that had coiled within him since receiving Emily Prentice's text that morning receding. He could see that focusing on the facts of the past case was diverting Aurora's attention. He recalled Hotch's words, that it was going to be good for Aurora to have a friend on the team as this case was bound to bring forth painful memories. _Maybe it's good for both of us to have a friend who understands where we came from_ , Reid decided.

"Did you know Reid and Aurora had a history?" Hotch asked when Reid had departed.

Morgan got to his feet, "Not till I walked in and saw them with their heads together like a couple of kid's passing notes before the teacher shows up.

This image drew a small chuckle from the normally somber section chief. The ghost of a smile played over his lips. "Reid certainly seems protective of her."

"The two of them look out for each other it seems like. Before the rest of you came in Reid mentioned someone called Aunt Melinda, Garcia said it's not a blood relative but when you call someone Aunt you're not talking a casual acquaintance."Morgan stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Maybe it's a good thing the Kid has someone around who knows him well but didn't know what happened to him."

"How much did you tell the team?" Hotch paced back toward the door.

"No details. Just enough for them to know he'd been inside." Morgan let out a long sigh, "Maybe I should have let the kid disclose that himself."

Hotch nodded "It would have been more comfortable for him."

, Morgan bit back irritation at the mild rebuke.

Thanks for the ride," Xander told Garcia's he threw a suitcase into the back of Ester, Garcia's convertible." Xander climbed into the passenger seat, lying a laptop bag over his knees.

"We couldn't have you going around buck naked," Garcia kept her eyes firmly on the road as she started the car.

"Come on, you wouldn't appreciate a view of a fine specimen of manhood?" a lascivious smile broke on Xander's face.

"When would that happen?"

Xander turned toward the window, contemplating the row houses they passed on their way to the airfield.

"You know, your God's gift to women routine is really kind of tired. I can't understand how all those women fell for it?" Xander turned back, his eye-brows raised in surprise.

"You didn't think I was just sitting here twiddling my thumbs while you threw together some essentials. I looked up your record. You were a hacker, a pimp and a hustler."

"I was using what I had to make my way." Xander's voice was bitter, "I didn't have any angels, fallen or otherwise landing on my shoulder to show me the way."

"No, you had a drunkard father, a tragic mother and a strict grandmother. That couldn't have been easy."

"Strict, Grandmother Claire was an inflexible tyrant." Xander found himself confessing.

"Lots of people have crappy childhoods," Garcia slowed as they approached a traffic light, "Look at what Aurora must have gone through being discarded just because she was a girl child. But she turned herself around."

"Good for her" Xander scowled. "She made the right connections. I mean that Aunt, she couldn't have been any Gypsy to put her in the same orbit as someone like Reid. Some people get lucky and then there are the rest of us."

Garcia sighed in exasperation. _Well, no one can say I haven't tried to work with this gigolo_ , Garcia thought to herself as she turned down the access road to the airfield.

"You'll want to change into your street clothes before we go probably," Aurora said as she and Reid moved out of the bullpen, following several members of the BAU.

"These are my street clothes," Reid gave Aurora a puzzled look.

Aurora looked Reid over; he wore khakis, a light blue, button down the front sweater, a tan dress shirt peeking out from under it. He was carrying a messenger bag over his shoulder as well as an overnight bag. Even his shoes were wrong she decided, plane, canvas sneakers nothing that would be associated with a big name athlete.

"Let's see, Aurora began, Staying Reid's progress with one hand as she spotted JJ, Elvez, and Rossi standing together by the elevator. She didn't want to make Spencer uncomfortable.

"If you go Morgan wants us in the streets as soon as possible, right?" Aurora fixed Reid with a steady gaze as she spoke. She raised a hand, ticking off points, "In the streets, that ensemble will make you stand out like a mother superior at a brothel, you should be wearing jeans: nothing fancy or designer (faded would be best), high top sneakers or boots with a place to stow a knife .

If possible, a baggy t-shirt, and probably a hoody, something that would cover your holster. The only thing in your outfit that works is your socks. They're a bit retro but Chris Cross was memorable for their fashion statement so that's still hip.""

"I don't have time to go home and get the pair of jeans I hav,e and I've never heard of some of the articles of clothing you mentioned. What is a hoody?"

Aurora knit her brows together, trying to think of the best way to describe it. This could be a challenge. JJ had left the others and was approaching them. Aurora's expression turned to a scowl, they didn't need an audience. The doors from the bullpen opened again to disgorge Morgan and Prentice.

"I'll explain when we go shopping." Aurora said quickly.

"Don't worry, you won't need to shop. We have everything we need." JJ interjected.

"No, we need to go shopping." Aurora folded her arms across her chest, drawing herself to her full height of five foot two.

"There isn't going to be time," JJ said,

"Then we better make time or Spencer here is just going to be asking to get his ass kicked. No one will believe a fallen angel would walk around with someone who is either some kind of social worker or a lay preacher. We both need to look like we belong."

"I've been in the field dressed like this, and it wasn't a problem." Reid squared his shoulders. He shifted his gaze to Morgan, looking for help. He noticed the look that passed between JJ and Prentice. Both seemed amused by his predicament which made him feel worse.

"I'm not talking Neman Marcus or Just for men," Aurora now also looked to their boss, "Just about an hour in Old Navy or a local consignment store." Aurora turned to Reid, "I wouldn't suggest this if it weren't important."

"She's right Pretty Boy," Morgan gave his friend an apologetic look, "You two are going under cover in a sense and that means you have to look like you belong, not like a federal agent." Morgan turned to Aurora, "Fine, do what you need to do but get on the streets as soon as you can when we land. Take Aurora with you on this shopping trip., she'll know what you need."

Morgan patted Reid on the shoulder. The younger man gave a resigned shrug and the group continued. Aurora again put a hand on Reid's arm as the others boarded the elevator.

"We'll take the next one," she said. When the doors closed she turned apologetically to Reid.

"I'm sorry Spencer; I should have talked to you about this before we left the bullpen, We didn't need an audience for this conversation. I was so wrapped up in my past in feeling shell shocked…"

"It's okay; I'm use to providing entertainment for the group. And you were blindsided this morning." Now it was Reid who gave Aurora's hand a light squeeze. Aurora gave him a grateful smile. She tapped the call button for the elevator, "We'd better get down stairs before we provide them with gossip as well as entertainment which by the way, It bothers me they do that to you."

Reid was touched by Aurora's fierce defense of him. Yes, he was going to enjoy working with her, even if she did intend to put him through one of his least favorite activities, clothes shopping. However, Reid knew Aurora's hopes of keeping them from becoming a gossip item were going to be in vane. He knew that Garcia would be passing on the intelligence about his mom and Aurora's foster mother teaching together and just before the elevator doors closed, Reid caught sight of Rossi and Simms exiting the bullpen. Rossi winked as he spotted the pair inside. These two teams were in many ways, one big family and Aurora was going to learn what he already knew, this family cared about one another but they also liked to have a little fun.

Aaron Hotchner was in the act of slipping on his jacket when there was a knock on his office door."Come in," the section chief called, buttoning his coat. The door opened and a pretty woman with light brown hair tied in a neat pony tail entered the room. She wore a maroon sweater and sky blue yoga pants. She carried a bakery box. She placed it on Hotch's desk.

"Since it was my fault you were behind schedule and missed breakfast, I stopped at Donnelly's after I dropped Jack at school and picked you up blueberry muffins. Marjorie says they came fresh out of the oven this morning." Hotch stepped to the woman, catching her in a warm embrace.

"You're going to spoil me Beth." Hotch pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss. Beth laughed happily as she wound her arms around her husband's neck, deepening the kiss.

"I'm so glad I decided to take that trip to Vermont for the early foliage."

"And I'm glad I got another chance to ask you to marry me." Hotch cupped his wife's cheek, stroking the smooth skin. He remembered the chance encounter at the rustic general store when his son spotted Beth purchasing hiking supplies.

They kissed once more before Hotch reluctantly released her.

"Did you hear anything yet?" Hotch asked.

"They want to talk to me today," Beth straightened her sweater, "I'm sure I'll have an answer by the time we take our trip to the cabin."

"Then I will be sure to be home in time for our weekend."

"Or you could fly directly to Vermont and meet me there."

"I shouldn't need to stay more than a day or two, just to make sure the Auxiliary Investigation Unit and the BAU can function smoothly together."

"How did it go when the two teams met?"

"It was a little bumpy; there are some tensions, especially regarding two of the members of the AIU. And Reid and one of them have a history of some kind. I'm not sure how that will impact Morgan's group."

"Well, if anyone can see that both groups compliment rather than hinder each other it's you Aaron."

"I appreciate the vote." Hotch said. He hugged Beth once again then picked up his go bag.

"I'll walk you out."

"Don't forget your breakfast Hotchner," Beth picked up the bakery box and thrust it into his free hand. Hotch smiled his appreciation and the pair left. Hotch glanced at the clock, wincing as he realized he was going to be at least 5 minutes late getting to the airfield even if he ignored speed limits. Morgan and Prentice wouldn't let him hear the end of that.


	3. Chapter 3

A

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of it's characters

Author's note: For story purposes, I have placed Linda Barns' attempt to dismantal the BAU betweenat the start of season 13, after the events in Wheels up.

A line from a Deborah Harry song flashed through Aurora's mind as she exited the SUV she and Spencer had been riding in. "Okay sweetheart, Pull over, where'd you learn to drive." She adjusted the straps of her backpack. Aloud she said, "I take it you skipped driver's ed in high school."

"I was only 12 when I was in high school, they wouldn't let me take driver's education. I taught myself." Reid said.

"That explains everything. Learning to drive is like representing yourself in court."

Reid glanced skeptically at the oversized backpack Leeanne wore. "Are you sure you have everything in there?"

"If I need anything else, I can get it."

"We won't have a lot of time for shopping."

Aurora tossed her hair back and grinned, "I hate shopping. There are more ways to get supplies than going to Wal-Mart. It's all part of the rules for Angels."

Reid gave Aurora a confused look. "I'll explain it on the plane but there are protocols in our organization, that's why I was trying to text while we were riding." Aurora would have said more but she spotted the gulfstream sitting on the runway just then. Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan stood with the pilot; Morgan had just said something that made them all laugh.

"That's for us?" Aurora's eyes widened in surprise and her voice mirrored her astonishment.

"Yah, pretty impressive, huh?" Reid smiled at his friend's reaction.

"I hope you haven't told Aunt Melinda about that. I don't think she would approve of law enforcement having a private jet to get around on." Aurora stopped in her tracks, taking in the aircraft warily as the full impact of what this meant hit her. _What did you think girl, we were going to take Greyhound when time was of the essence?_ Aurora chided herself.

"Are you okay?" Reid studied Aurora, a concerned frown creasing his brow.

Aurora blinked, then shook her head violently, determined not to look weak. "I'm fine." Reid continued to stare and Aurora gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, "Okay, I'm not wild about heights, that's all."

Reid gave an understanding nod. He brushed his finger tips over her arm, giving it a reassuring pat.

"Please don't tell the others." Aurora dropped her gaze, embarrassed by her admission.

"Your secret is safe." Reid placed his hand over his heart. The simple gesture drew a smile of appreciation from Aurora. They reached the group.

"There you are youngsters, thought I was going to have to send out a search party." Morgan said, grinning at them and giving Reid a wink.

"We aren't the first ones here?" Aurora returned the grin.

"I wasn't driving that fast." Reid crossed his arms over his chest, dropping his go bag in the process. This drew a chuckle from Morgan and a knowing smirk from Prentiss.

"You want to see wild driving, ride with Derek some time." Prentiss grinned cheekily. Morgan paroled his eyes. Then turned to Aurora.

"I've tried to give Pretty Boy some driving tips."

People, the clock is ticking." Hotch said fixing the others each in turn with a firm glare. Reid picked up his bag and took Aurora by the arm guiding her to the boarding stairs. Prentiss and Morgan followed. As they moved off. The pilot made his way to the cockpit. Prentiss's phone rang. She waved Morgan ahead while she took the call. Hotch was the last of the group to enter the cabin.

"I could get use to this," Xander commented, stretching his long legs across the area between the groupings of seats.

"This is just a tool, not a pleasure craft." Garcia said, giving the hustler a stern glare as she opened her laptop to begin getting to work. Across from her, JJ took note of the exchange, trying to hide a smirk. _Penelope's going to have her hands full with this one_ , JJ thought.

This is one tool I won't mind using." Xander grinned, his grey green eyes twinkling. Xander spotted Aurora striding determinedly down the aisle.

"Rorri, there's a seat over here with Penelope, JJ and Me. It would be a pleasure to be surrounded by beautiful women."

Aurora affected a rich southern drawl molasses smooth "Thank You kind sir, but I like a little brains with my beauty." She followed Reid into a seat across the aisle.

Garcia giggled at the skillfully delivered dig at Xander. Though she also noticed Reid's blush at her words. _Someone is really enjoying his new partner_ , Garcia thought, _those two have much more to their history than they are saying_.

"What's with those two?" JJ leaned toward Garcia, "They seem to have their heads together every time I turn around. It looked like they were into something pretty heavy in the Bullpen just before we left."

"I haven't had time to start digging into my new family member's life. I've been kind of busy digging into our victim's lives in case there is another explanation for this attack as well as pulling crime reports related to fences, hackers, forgers and the like and looking for Romani connections."

"You had time to dig into my life," Xander smirked.

"**reeeeeally**?" JJ gave the word several extra syllables. Garcia shot her friend an exasperated look.

"He's going to be working with me closely, in my lair, it's a priority." Garcia's words came out in a rush. This just made JJ's knowing grin widen.

"There are new developments people." Morgan slid into the seat beside Garcia, "Prentiss just got a call from the Davisville authorities, they found a trailer on fire, several bodies inside. Broken glass around the scene."

Garcia's lip quivered. Across the aisle, a trouble frown crossed Aurora's brow while Reid gave a slack jawed stair. JJ looked sad. She quickly schooled her expression.

"I'll go see what Emily wants me to do." JJ stood and gathered her files, moving briskly down the aisle toward her friend. Morgan reached across the aisle, handing his tablet to Reid.

"Aurora, does that mean anything?"

Reid glared at Morgan, Aurora didn't need to see the horror's in these pictures, not yet. She was still, Reid knew, battling with a fear of heights. She hadn't had the proper training to prepare herself. Reid's concerns were confirmed when He glanced at Aurora and noted the greenish tinge to her skin and the rapid increase in her breathing, as she got her first glimpse of crime scene pictures.

Aurora swallowed hard as she looked down at the pictures of the burning trailer and the bodies inside, the flesh charred beyond recognition, a tangle of flesh and fabric. It wasn't just the rising plane causing her belly to threaten to revolt. She wondered how the others, including the gentle, Spencer Reid handled exposure to this on a daily basis.

"Aurora," Morgan broke into her thoughts. Aurora swallowed hard once more, giving her head a shake to clear it.

"Sorry," Aurora said, "I'm not use to flying."

Aurora flicked a glance at her long time friend and Reid gave her an encouraging look.

"They weren't restrained; it looks like they were sleeping.""Preliminary reports say the victims are an adult male and female. A pre-teen boy and two girls probably younger." Morgan kept his tone neutral as he read from the file.

"It's not the family that took Miriam, I'd have to see the scene, but I can say with almost certainty it's not them." Aurora pushed distractedly at her hair.

"You're sure about that?"

Aurora gave a firm nod, "I'll have to see the scene and find out the ethnicity of the bodies but yes. The family that took Miriam and killed her parents would not have daughters unless they were under 2 and they wouldn't keep more than one taken wife in the family at a time. They want to isolate these girls and indoctrinate them into Romani culture. They don't want anything around them that cold remind them of that other life. The only way they would ever have another taken wife other than the mother in the family was if she had been with them long enough to be fully integrated into the culture. Probably in her late teens."

"Okay, I'll talk with Emily and we'll arrange it," Morgan said.

"I'd like to visit the crime scene as well. The fact the fire was set while the family was sleeping suggests the killer didn't want them to suffer, yet there is evidence that at some point, someone was in the trailer searching for something."

"And the family didn't wake up?" Xander said.

"Exactly, someone had to subdue the family prior to doing this." Reid said "I'd like to see if I can figure out what they were looking for. This is extensive preplanning. It suggests that whoever did it is familiar to them."

"Was anything taken?" Aurora asked.

"It's hard to tell, the scene is still being processed." Morgan rubbed his forehead, wincing at the headache that was not getting any better. "Why might someone burn a family like this? Is it part of some kind of rivalry?"

Aurora straightened, drumming her fingers on the table. "This is weird, a fire like this is part of the death rites, when a Romani dies, they and their possessions are placed in a funeral pyre." It's not a means of killing. I think you'll find they were killed before the fire but if not, it makes no sense. Even if they had stolen from the one who killed them, they wouldn't destroy the family like this. They would just maim the thief." Aurora noted the tension in Morgan's face and the way he massaged his temple. Reaching under the seat, she drew her pack forward and rummaged until she pulled out a wooden box covered in ornate carvings of flowers, and birds. She undid the latch and removed a bottle, offering it to her superior. "It's Peppermint Oil; it works wonders on headaches faster than Aspirin and with fewer side effects. Just apply it directly to your forehead."

Morgan took the bottle and followed Aurora's instructions. He noticed an almost immediate dulling of the pain as he handed back the bottle.

"Excuse me a minute," Aurora said. She rose quickly and rushed to the back of the cabin.

"Is she really okay," Garcia glanced with concern, after the new team member.

"Yah," Reid offered a small smile,

"I'm sure those pictures were a shock to her but she is here to offer her expertise on her culture. We needed to know what she just told us."

"Of course," the words came out more sullen than Reid had intended. He knew Morgan was right. He didn't have to like it though.

"Would it be intrusive if I just checked on her? Maybe made her a cup of tea?" Garcia leaned eagerly forward.

Reid smiled, He knew Aurora would hate being fussed over but he also knew there was no one better at making everything, even the horrors of crime scenes more palatable than Penelope Garcia. He also knew Garcia, like Aurora, wasn't entirely at ease with seeing what they had to. Reid noticed that Aurora had not put away the box containing the oils. "Do you know anything about those?"

Garcia glanced at the box, "Essential oils, I most certainly do and I know what teas correspond to them." Garcia picked up the box, scanning the contents and taking out two bottles. She handed it back to Reid, who replaced it in the backpack than with a swish of fabric; Garcia stood and hustled to the galley.

When Aurora stepped from the restroom, feeling drained though less shaky, she found the colorful, Penelope Garcia standing before her, holding two cups of tea, she offered one to her.

"It's chamomile and peppermint with a hint of some of your Ginger oil; it will settle your stomach. I hope you don't mind, I helped myself. My tummy doesn't handle flying well after Tamales the night before. Ad in looking at barbecued. Humans and well…."

"You must see this all the time," Aurora said, taking the tea and sipping gratefully.

"Not without my arsenal of cuteness to follow immediately. I said before, I **never** or nearly never go out in the field."

"I've never seen anything like that." Aurora admitted, "And I've seen pretty bad things done to kids."

"It's not all just handing out blankets and warnings to working girls to be careful then?" Garcia asked, "Being a Fallen Angel I mean."

Aurora shook her head, "Sometimes it's accepting that people make self destructive choices. We're required to stand back and let them learn, letting them know we're there. That's harder than you'd think. But stepping in can look too much like judgment. No one understands that better than someone who's been out there."

"Point taken, I'll make sure our super fox understands that if you need a minute that's all it means."

"Thanks Penelope," Aurora said, holding out her hand for a shake.

"Wow! that bracelet is beautiful." Garcia's subject change was welcome to Aurora and when the women returned, they were happily chatting about jewelry and scarves as they resumed their seats. Garcia caught Reid's eye and he gave a nod of comprehension, handing aurora back her pack.

"I'm guessing your pensive mood isn't contemplation of your weekend at the cabin with Beth?" David Rossi said as he sat down beside his old friend, offering him a mug of coffee. Aaron turned away from the plane's window to face his friend.

"Aurora is right; we should have considered there were sisters as well as brothers in the Trivalian case. How many others were there? How many didn't get the chance that Aurora had? How many suffered worse fates, or never got a chance at life at all?"

"I've been tripping over those thoughts myself." "Aaron, you know you can't do this to yourself." Rossi gave his friend a stern look. "Looking backward will eat you up."

"I know," Hotch let out a sigh, "We can't save them all. That doesn't make it any easier."

"No, Rossi sipped his coffee, "It doesn't. On the other hand, maybe there were others like her." Rossi indicated the auburn haired woman sitting beside Spencer Reid, a purple cell phone in her hand and a tea cup sitting before her. As her fingers moved over the phone, she appeared to be talking animatedly with Reid. The young genius was grinning from ear to ear. His posture was completely relaxed in a way that no one on the team had seen from the young man in a very long time, perhaps ever. A smile tugged at Rossi's lips at the sight.

Hotch followed the older man's gaze. He watched the youngest members of Morgan's team with relief. He would never understand what compelled Emily Prentiss to allow Reid to be not only in a prison but in general population for so long. She was a better agent than that. It wasn't like the team hadn't bent the rules to help one of their own before. It was only because the rest of the team, including Reid, supported Emily that he had not aligned with Linda Barns and supported her removal from the BAU at least as unit chief. Instead, he had offered to return as section chief in the hopes of keeping such a thing from happening again and as his first act as section chief, created the Auxiliary Investigation Unit. Reid had performed better than expected since his return but Hotch still saw signs of hyper vigilance, so he had fully supported Morgan's request to have him on his team. Morgan had always watched over Reid in a brotherly fashion and Hotch knew, he wouldn't have to worry about the young profiler winding up in a mess like the one he'd just gotten out of with Derek Morgan as his direct supervisor. He had, however, worried about Reid's emotional well being. Seeing him now with Aurora Carsteirs, clearly happy and relaxed but some of his worry on that front to rest.

"The two of them look cozy." Rossi winked, "Did Derek plan that?"

"It was a surprise to him as well I think." Hotch glanced out the window at the puffy, white clouds rolling by.

"If anyone needs a friend who can make him feel like that, it's Spencer."

"Given that in a sense, we're looking at her family, it will be good for her to have a steadying presence like Reid around her. Someone who can remain objective but be supportive of her."

"What are you reading?" Reid asked, glancing at the book in Aurora's hand. It showed a picture of a movie star handsome man dressed to the 9s, baring vampire fangs, his arm wrapped around a fresh faced woman.

"It's called Lover Eternal, by R. J. Ward. It's a vampire romance." Aurora felt heat rising to her cheeks as she spoke. The idea of talking romance to her pre-teen crush still made her heart skip a few beats. The feeling surprised her.

"Like Twilight?"

"God no! That series was so lame. Belle was the most poorly written heroin I've ever seen, so fickle and stupid. And Edward….come on now. I can't believe you liked it or even that you read it. It doesn't seem like you."

"I didn't say I liked it, just that I read it. JJ and Garcia kept referencing it during this case we were working where this guy was trying to make it look like the singer he was managing believed he actually was a vampire and killing young women in L.A." Reid made a face as he remembered the book, "The plot of Twilight was very obtuse and the writing was simplistic, I never got past the first book."

"The writing in this series isn't very sophisticated either. But the characters, while still not quite in line with Bran Stoker's Dracula, are not at all Sparkly, they kind of make me think of Klingons combined with King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. They have a code, they are very romantic and passionate, in a bodice ripper kind of way, but there is more going on. And I like the idea of a culture of the supernatural existing alongside the human culture."

"The way the Romani exists along side of the main stream culture of the United States?" Reid smiled at his friend who looked at him appreciatively.

"I never thought of it that way but yes." Aurora had been grateful when After Garcia had returned to her work; Reid had continued to stay off the topic of the case, giving her time to settle. Now, she drew a breath, and turned to her friend, setting her book aside.

"Change of plans," no makeover today. The streets aren't going to tell us what we need to know. First. We're going to have to reach out to another source. It looks like."

"What kind of other source? Reid looked apprehensive.

"How do you feel about Eugene O'Neal?"

"It depends on which work you're talking about?" Reid smiled.

Xander flipped through what seemed to be the 50th file on a petty criminal that he'd opened during the nearly 2 hour flight to Mississippi. There had to be a better way to find out who dealt with Gypsies than this. He shielded his eyes from the glare of the computer screne. Allowing his thoughts to wander. He remembered his grandmother's frequent warnings, "Those damn machines will make you go blind." He chuckled to himself. His grandmother had been wrong about that like everything else, he was not blind, he was not a drunk, Hell, and he was working for the FBI. He was working alongside one of the best hackers on the planet who just happened to be a bespectacled buxom, beauty as well. He wasn't lounging in a drunk tank somewhere. And unlike his father, he knew how to take care of the women he was with. Had he stolen from them, yes? Had he taken advantage of them, probably, but he **had** valued them in his way and cared about what mattered to them which was more than he could say for the sperm donor who created him.

Something pinched his arm and he jumped. "Ouch!"

"Earth to Xander, are you in there?" Garcia was staring at him curiously.

"That hurt!" Xander made a show of rubbing his arm.

"Don't be such a baby. I've asked you 3 times if you had anything yet."

"I have eye strain, does that count?"

"What did you do before this?" Garcia shook her head at her companion.

"I wined, dined, seduced and married beautiful women and hacked into their bank accounts to clean them out."

"I meant as a real job? You must have done something between wives. You aren't that lazy?"

"You mean your poking around in my on line life didn't uncover that too?"

Garcia shook her head, "Which tells me that you must have worked under the table. Cash payment that can't be tracked."If I told you that I couldn't remain a man of mystery." Xander flashed a mischievous grin. Garcia rolled her eyes and turned back to her computer. The conversation about his under the table work gave Xander an idea. He pulled out his cell phone and began texting. By the time the pilot announced their descent, Xander had a plan sparing himself and the lovely Penelope hours of work and maybe, scoring some points with her with an act of kindness.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer

I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters.

Spencer held opened the passenger door of the black SUV and offered a hand to assist Aurora out of the vehicle. Aurora quickly unwound her scarf and tied it around her nose to block out the stench of burnt human flesh. She didn't think she had anything left to barf up but she felt her stomach clench as the stink hit her nostrils. _I will not puke again_ Aurora promised herself. Morgan, Rossi, Simmons and Alvez stood a short distance away. _The boys club is here, I'm definitely not losing it_ , Aurora decided.

"Are you ready?" Reid studied his friend with concern. He wondered if she knew what she was getting into. She had barely been able to keep it together looking at the crime scene photos. He noted her look of determination. He understood her desire to prove herself. Reid led the way to the others.

"The crime scene techs have pretty much finished their work. Everything is as they found it. Morgan handed them each a pair of rubber gloves.

"Lead the way," Aurora motioned to Morgan and the group moved toward the shell of the mobile home. Aurora spotted the broken glass at the edge of the heap. She gestured, turning back to the men, "This is certainly consistent with Romani tradition," Aurora Indicated the fragments of color.

They proceeded up a rickety step and threw a door hanging on its hinges. The stench was stronger here. Aurora found the scarf no protection at all. She let her eyes roam over the remains of the enclosure, taking in the disarray. She pointed to a doll with large blue eyes, its golden hair singed and a raggedy stuffed elephant.

"Dolls are prized by young girls as are stuffed animals. That's true of many cultures."

"The youngest girl's arms are positioned like she was holding on to something at the time of her death, keeping it close."

Reid held the ends of a quilt with gloved finger tips, pulling it back to reveal a tiny form, her long, dark, curly hair was scorched, her skin was blackened.

Aurora willed herself not to flinch at the sight as a flash of memory crossed her minds eye. She once more stood in a forest behind a cemetery in Nevada watching her family's mobile home burning with them and all their worldly goods inside. She recalled trembling with fear that because she was given to them that she would be tossed on the pyre to be burned along with them. Her fears increased as she watched the hard eyed Trevelyan family, Raul holding on possessively to his wife while his eldest son stood near by, holding the hand of a moppy haired toddler. They seemed to be looking right at her. Not even the formidable presence of Aunt Melinda on one side of her, holding one of her hands and her friend, Dallas Strainge, with his flap jacket, and pirate's earing giving him the look of abad ass,, on the other, or the two detectives standing further back, with cameras, could reassure her that Raul wouldn't carry out his threat that she would follow her parents even though she had told no one about  
Eden Ann's existence.

"Aurora?" Reid's hand was on Aurora's arm. She shook her head resolutely and marched to the larger bed where the two adults lay.

Aurora bent and lifted the remnants of a quilt that covered the corpses that had once been a man and woman. She peered closely at the figures, breathing through her mouth to try and cut the smell. As she examined the two bodies.

"No wedding rings, no rings of any kind."

"Yet you can see where they both have worn rings much of the time, look at the indentations on their ring fingers." Reid pointed to the hands of the corpses.

The others followed his gaze. Aurora let the ragged fabric fall from her fingers. She continued to prowl the area. It didn't take her long to find the recessed closet at the far end of the trailer. In another flash of memory she recalled Eden Ann telling her how they kept her in a closet like a doll almost all the time unless Nico wanted to play with her or Sylvia needed her help. Taking a steadying breath, she slowly opened the door and looked inside. She blinked, surprised by the empty space. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and looked more carefully. That was when she spotted the blue flower made of cloth lying on the floor.

"Hey guys, come take a look at this."

Reid was the first to arrive.

"Look at that." Aurora pointed.

"There were flowers like that on Miriam's pajamas." Alvez, who had joined the pair said, remembering the security footage from the rivers home they had reviewed of the family up until the moment the feed was cut.

"It doesn't make sense," Aurora said, her brow furrowing in confusion. "A family that takes wives from the outside like this doesn't keep their girl children."

"Could Miriam be one of them?" Morgan gestured to the bed where the bodies of the two girls lay.

"Tara and I talked to the ME." Simmons said, they won't know for sure but preliminary exam suggests no."

"The skeletal structure bares that out." Reid studied the inside of the closet. He reached to the top shelf and pulled down a box which he opened. it contained a set of skeleton keys. "It would be incredibly fool-hearty to leave the implements for an escape with the girl you just kidnapped." Reid picked up one of the keys and held it up.

"That is like new." Aurora studied the shiny key with its intricate engravings in the mettle."You're supposed to think its old, but it looks freshly pressed.

"Could the husband be a forger?" Alvez's question earned a glare from aurora. "

"Or he could be a Locksmith?" Rossi took the box and it's contense and placed them in an evidence bag. "Reid's right though, it would be a tremendously stupid move to keep keys and a prisoner in the same space.

"Prized belongings were taken from them. Is it possible our unsub believes they took something from him?"

"Or that they were keeping something from him?" Simmons bent to collect the single piece of cloth.

"Could Miriam have been left in someone else's keeping until the heat died down?" Morgan stepped closer to examine the interior of the closet.

"Not unless there was some real threat to the family that took her and even then, the boy she was to wed would be left with her." Aurora said. "We need to know who he is."

"He's not the one that participated in the attack at the River's home," Reid rifled through documents he found in the back of the closet. "The boy's name is Aiden Blaze. He's in the fifth grade taking advanced placement classes. His strength is in math and science. He has a twin sister Annabel and a younger sister, Katia."

Reid passed Aurora the papers and she scanned them.

"Spencer's right, these kids are enrolled in school, that suggests they've been here a while and weren't planning to travel. Our family would keep their child away from the outside community."

"Wouldn't that go against the very nature of being a Gypsy?" Alvez asked.

Aurora drew a breath.

"Calling a person of Romani origin a Gypsy is a racial slur.,"

Morgan applauded Aurora's calm in handling the situation, though he heard the faint undertone of exasperation in her voice. This was a hot button. He made a note to talk to Prentiss and see that her team was sensitive on this point.

"I'm sorry." Luke Elvez looked away sheepishly.

Noting his sincerity, Aurora waved it away, "It's a common error. And to answer your other questions about what the keys are for, they are small, so probably a lock like that on a jewelry or music box maybe. Many of my people have gravitated toward becoming artisans as well as other creative fields in addition to working carnivals."

"So the question becomes, why would a family of kidnappers leave their victim even for a short time, with members of the community who did not follow the same practices." Rossi paced away.

Morgan looked expectantly at Aurora. The young woman shook her head bewildered.

"They shouldn't have trusted anyone, especially a family like this, with the girl."

Garcia frowned as she studied yet another file on a suspected fence. Billy Wayne Wright had a rap sheet long enough to cover all of Route 66 though nothing that suggested he might have handled anything taken from the Rivers house or that he had any dealings with Romani. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her the last thing she'd had to eat was an apple strudel from the coffee shop near her apartment. She wondered where Xander Gallagher had gotten off to. He was supposed to have been helping her sift through this mountain of files, but he had taken off 20 minutes ago after receiving a text. He'd given no explanation. She wondered again why, of all the hustlers out there, Morgan thought this pretty boy was what they needed. He was arrogant, vane, and lazy as far as she could tell.

"I come bearing lunch, or maybe it should be an early dinner." Xander strolled into the conference room carrying a takeout bag from some place called The Roman café. He put the bag down and began taking out cartons and utensils.

"I got veal Parmesan and linguini for me and vegetable lasagna for you. Tubs told me you're a non-meat eater."

Garcia reluctantly closed her laptop as her stomach made its presence known once more.

"Thank you." Garcia opened the container letting the delicious aroma waft out. She eagerly picked up her fork and knife and began to eat.

"I'm curious," Garcia said after a while, "Why do you call Morgan Tubs? He's hardly over weight."

Xander laughed, twirling a piece of pasta on his fork.

"Did you ever watch a show called Miami Vice?" Xander began to nibble on the linguini.

"I wasn't really a fan of macho boy's club kind of shows." Garcia cut another piece of lasagna.

"The main characters are Detective James Crocket and Detective Ricardo Tubbs. Tubbs was a stylish man of African American descent"

"So are you supposed to be Crocket?" Garcia smirked.

"I dress better than he does and I wish I had his wheels." Xander grinned.

He didn't admit he had also had a desire to be on the side of the right. It was hard to explain how he, a man who took what he wanted, still had an honor code of sorts. He was pretty sure the morally rigorous Penelope wouldn't understand. He took a bite of the veal; it was incredibly tender and seasoned just right.

"Not that I don't appreciate the meal, but there are a ton of files here to go through. I'm drowning here."

"Then allow me to throw you a life line." Xander put down his fork with a flourish, "I didn't just slip away to hunt up food, I also took a meeting with an old contact of mine."

"One of the ladies whose bank accounts you drained?"

"Actually, this was a guy who handled moving my money around back in Chicago. When he got too close to getting busted, he decided to take his earnings and go straight. He owns a boat rental place here. But even though he's out of the life, he still knows who the players are. His brother is a fence in Jackson. He made a few calls and we can trim that list down a lot."

"I'm just surprised there are so many of these guys in the middle of nowhere. Who knew the backwoods was such a hotbed of criminal activity."

Xander laughed, "That's exactly why, and no one thinks to look for outlaws out here so they can operate with more freedom. Lots of back room dealing." Xander reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and produced a paper which he handed to Garcia.

"He said these 13 guys are the most likely candidates. They all operate within a 20 mile radius of Davisville."

Garcia scanned the list and nodded. She rummaged in her bag, coming up with a red pen. She drew a line down the middle of the list and tore the paper along it, handing half back to Xander.

"When you're done chowing down, these are yours." Garcia returned to her own meal, placing the other half of the page beside her laptop. "Thank you for saving us some time. This could put us a lot closer to getting Miriam back."

"I live to serve." Xander's eyes twinkled and he allowed a smile to play at his lips. He felt he had made a crack in Penelope's defenses.

As dusk fell over the sleepy town of Davisville Mississippi, rain began falling. It did not deter people from streaming into the ornate, glass doors of the Antebellum Theater. The building, with its art deco facade and white marble pillars on either side of the doors, stood as a shrine to another era. A white Lamborghini pulled up to the curb. A short, stout man with wiry red hair sprinkled with strands of white and wearing dark blue slacks and a black rain coat hopped out of the front seat and opened the door to the back, Spencer Reid, wearing a charcoal grey suit and light blue dress shirt with a matching tie slightly askew got out of the vehicle, followed by Aurora Carstairs, Her auburn hair was styled in a cascade of curls. She wore a short sleeved cinnamon colored dress and bronze colored heels. Aurora linked her arm through Reid's and they entered the elegant building, just another couple out for an evening of good theater. Reid purchased two tickets. As they approached a hawk nosed usher with caramel colored skin, Aurora reached into a clutch purse and produced a piece of pink paper, she handed it to the usher.

"Please see that Antoinette gets this." Aurora offered the paper to the usher.

"Miss Contraries will speak to fans after the show outside. You can give it to her then." The usher's tone was imperious. Reid started to reach for his credentials before remembering he didn't have them. In the next minute, Aurora was reaching once more into her bag, this time coming up with several bills. She held them out. "This is family business." The usher eyed the bills eagerly, but shook his head.

"You may try to speak with her after the show." He said in a tone of finality. Aurora glanced at Reid then nodded. They hadn't gone halfway down the aisle in the darkened theater when another usher approached them. He had shaggy brown hair and a gap toothed smile. He held out a hand, "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with that prick Hershel." The man bounced nervously on his toes, "I'll be happy to take your note to MS. Contraries. She is very particular about family."

Aurora handed him the letter. She started to reach for the money but he shook his head.

"MS. Contraries instructions about family were very clear; she is to be notified at once if any ask to see her. I'm just doing my job."

Aurora glanced at the man's name tag, "Thank you Bernard." She offered a pleasant smile and the man hurried off. Aurora and Reid proceeded to their seats.

The lights dimmed and the curtain rose a few minutes later on act 1 of Mourning becomes Electra.

Aaron Hotchner grinned as his son stepped into frame on the laptop dressed in a black cape and top hat.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I will now produce a bouquet of roses from a silk handkerchief." He held up the red square of fabricand then spun around as he called out, "Abracadabra!" He faced front holding six roses.

The proud father cheered not caring who might walk in to Sherriff Mark Smithson's office. From her place at the table, his wife also cheered. Jack bowed theatrically.

"Uncle Spencer will be impressed when he sees that." Hotch beamed as he spoke.

"Will he be at the party?" Jack looked hopefully into the camera.

"All the family will be there." Hotch felt his smile grow wider as he thought about the upcoming celebration. He couldn't wait to make his announcement to everyone. "Beth, I think we need to expand the guest list to include Derek's new people, although I think maybe one of them would be Reid's plus one anyway." Hotch chuckled as he spoke.

"You sound pretty certain about that Aaron, have you found out more about how Spencer and Aurora know each other?"

" I have, Indirectly."

"Does Uncle Spencer have a girlfriend?" Jack piped up.

"Uncle Spencer has a friend who is a girl." Hotch winced, he hadn't considered the relationship might be more than platonic, if it was, that could make things complicated.

"Jack, why don't you get started on that book report, I'll be up in a few minutes to help you."

"Okay, I'm reading about Daniel Boon." Jack Took off his top hat, "Can I get a coon skin cap some time Dad?"

"We'll see about that buddy. But maybe I'll bring you back some arrow heads. There's a shop near here that sells them."

"Cool!" Jack bounded out of the room, his footsteps pounding through the laptop's speakers. Beth laughed.

"He's been working on his magic act all day. He's trying out for the school talent show."

"He'll be a hit."

"Is there any word on the girl?"

"Not yet, and there's no word on the band, and it's looking as though this abduction may be more complex." Hotch hesitated, "I might have to stay longer than I thought.

Hotch hated having to disappoint Beth. He knew how much she had been looking forward to their weekend at the cabin. He had promised he wouldn't let Beth down the way he had Haley. This was a new start.

"This little girl, she has family hoping for a safe return and ready to take her in?" Beth's voice was gentle. She was genuinely concerned. There was not a hint of disappointment or resentment in her tone.

"There is an Aunt from Biloxi who arrived about an hour ago and is camped out in the lounge and a grandmother and a couple uncles coming from Alabama."

"I hope you can put her in their arms." Beth gave him an encouraging smile that warmed him and melted some of the guilt from his shoulders.

Reid and Aurora were ushered down a narrow hall to a small room. Bernard, or Bernie as he preferred to be called, knocked on the door.

"Come on in," a voice with a Honeyed southern drawl called. Bernie opened the door and Reid and Aurora stepped into a small dressing room. In the center of the room was a makeup table covered with a profusion of perfume bottles, tubes of lipstick and eye liner, and pots of blush, eye shadow and various other creams and lotions. Behind the particle board table was a rack hung with several dresses. A sofa sat in a corner with chince cushions. A tall, voluptuous woman with long, ash blonde hair reclined in a pink silk robe, sipping a glass of Champaign. A bottle sat chilling in a bucket nearby.

"Thank you Bernie." The usher nodded then scurried away. The blonde regarded them from under thick lashes. Her eyes were green and had a ffarel quality to them. She eyed Reid with undisguised lust.

"Hello!" the woman stretched lazily, allowing her robe to fall open, revealing that she was wearing only a pair of red lace panties. "See anything you like Sweetie?"

Reid felt heat rise to his face under the woman's brazen gaze. He was startled by her display, in spite of Aurora's warnings.

"Down girl, remember, you're a married lady." Beside him, Reid felt Aurora tense. Her hand gripped his arm tighter.

"I'm married, not dead. I honestly thought maybe you were bringing me a present. As is proper if you're here to ask a favor." The woman sat up, still making no effort to cover herself.

Aurora reached into her bag. "I did bring you a gift but Spencer is not it."

"Too bad," She took the expensive jewelry box Aurora offered her, "I suppose I'll settle for another bobble…Oh my God! This is just as exquisite as I remembered."

The woman drew out an emerald and sapphire necklace. Even to Reid's untrained eye, it was obvious the stones were genuine. He wondered where it had come from.

"It was part of my mother's collection; it had been in a box she had given to me for my tenth birthday. It's been handed down from mother to daughter for 4 generations." Aurora explained.

"I'm sure this one would provide you a daughter to give this to." The woman lightly held the necklace between long, manicured fingers as though she expected it to be snatched away. Aurora blushed, at the assumption being made. Noticing the continued predatory look Antoinette was giving her partner, she decided to allow her to think it was fact. In keeping with the charade, she took Spencer's hand in hers.

"I may have a daughter some day, but you already have one by my mother's blood nephew." Aurora locked gazes with the other woman. She smiled, happily as she put the necklace around her own neck. She motioned to the Champaign bucket.

"Spencer is it? why don't you pour some Champaign . There are glasses in there." Antoinette pointed to the makeup table, "The top drawer. Rorie you can tell me what it is you want. I'm assuming you aren't playing the family card for a walk down memory lane."

"You are correct," Aurora paced to the makeup table and leaned against it while Reid poured them each a glass of the bubbly.

"Your performance is quite powerful." Reid replaced the bottle in the ice bucket and brought Aurora's glass to her. "You are very convincing as Lavinia."

"Thank you Spencer, I see you're a man of taste." Antoinette licked her lips.

"I need to speak to Valentin." Aurora took a sip of her drink.

"About?" Antoinette tossed back her hair.

"The renegades."

"You've been told to leave that alone." All vestiges of the sex kitten disappeared and Antoinette's expression hardened. She rose from the sofa and walked to the dress rack. She shuffled hangers until she came to a white linen gown.

"I told Valentin I wouldn't. Not until I found the one I was looking for."

"Leave it to him." Antoinette let the robe fall to the floor and took a step to one side, opening a drawer and removing a pair of white panties and a matching bra. Reid averted his gaze. He couldn't help noting a definite tension between the two women.

"Would he want to know about the Blaze family, if they had come to any harm because of the renegades?" Reid paced in the confined space.

As she stepped into the flowing gown, Antoinette looked over her shoulder at him.

"The music box makers?" her eyes widened, "They would have no dealings with the renegades. They are barely a part of the community. They let their children out into the world."

"I need to speak with Valentin." Aurora repeated her request, hands on hips; she fixed Antoinette with a hard stare. "The renegades are escalating, I know what he will want to do and I want to assist. I can help."

"If the Blaze family are not renegades, do they not fall under the protection of the community?" Reid took a step toward the actress.

"Would you be a dear and zip me up," Antoinette turned, presenting her back to Reid. Remembering Aurora's instructions, he complied with the request. She turned back, "thank you," Antoinette gave Reid a wink. Then turned to Aurora, "Valentin is out of town with his father. I don't know when they will be back."

"New Orleans?"

Antoinette regarded her for a long minute.

"Antoinette, this involves kids. Little girls. Girls like yours, like you were."

Reid thought Antoinette was going to strike Aurora for a second. Her eyes went hard as the emeralds around her neck, her delicate features turned to granite. She gave a faint nod.

"Thank you." Aurora told the woman. She placed her glass on the makeup table. Reid followed her example and they headed for the door.

"I guess I was wrong about you rorie, I told Valentin I was sure you were frigid, after all, you danced like sin, but you refused to give lap dances. Or is she teasing you too, Spencer?"

Aurora felt rage rush to the surface. She kicked herself for mentioning Antoinette's childhood. She'd forgotten how vindictive the older woman could be when she was hurt. Antoinette had inadvertently found the most effective way to hurt her. She had told Reid only that the Actress Antoinette Contraries was married to her cousin Valentin who Aurora had found when she left Dreamer's End. She hadn't mentioned where they had met.

Aurora whirled around, stalking back into the dressing room, a torrent of hateful words on her lips, her fingers itching to rein down destruction of her nemesis's space. She stopped herself, noting the other woman's expression; behind the unrepentant stair was a glimmer of deep, long suppressed hurt. Aurora recognized that she had pushed too hard and Antoinette had responded in kind.

"This is important." Aurora softened her tone, trying to sound apologetic.

"Clearly, if you're resorting to emotional blackmail."

"It's a matter of honor Antoinette; I have a debt to make up for."

"Curtain in ten," a voice called."

Aurora turned and joined Spencer at the door." Antoinette followed her, once more all smiles.

"It was lovely to see you Rorrie. And Spencer, it was definitely a pleasure." She shook Aurora's hand and gave Reid a peck on the cheek. "Enjoy the rest of the show." When the door closed, Aurora turned quickly to Reid.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that." Aurora couldn't quite meet her friend's eyes.

"We've all done things we are far from proud of or that we wish we could take back." Reid touched her shoulder, giving it a reassuring pat.

"I'm not ashamed of dancing." I enjoyed it actually. It was a revelation, being able to communicate emotions without words. It was empowering knowing I could manipulate the emotions of many people at once."

"You concealed that information from me. A fact that had I known, might have been useful in eliciting more information from Antoinette." Reid regarded his friend coolly. She gave him a questioning look, cocking an eye-brow, "I could have pretended to play the two of you against each other, taking advantage of her obvious desire to make me a sexual conquest."

Aurora considered a moment, then realized Reid was right and withholding the information had cost them a potential opportunity to gain time saving information.

"Point taken." Aurora gave her old friend a sheepish look as she pushed at her hair, "I'll tell you all about my wild years over coffee and beignets at a place I know in the French Quarter while we wait for Valentin. But we better get to our seats; the best part of this play is yet to come."

ReidTook her arm and they returned to the audience. They never got to see the second act however.

Morgan joined Hotch and Rossi at the conference table, carrying a bag of sub sandwiches. The men already had mugs of coffee before them.

Gallagher and I did a food run." Morgan began handing out the sandwiches. He and Garcia have narrowed down the list of possible Fences to lean on. They have sent out some Phishing emails to see if they can trick them into revealing something and they are working on hacking their servers. At least I think that's what they were saying. I'm not fluent in geek speak." Morgan grinned.

"Reid and Aurora are working on establishing some contacts within the Romani community and trying to gage what might be floating about in the whisper stream. If these people felt compelled to break tradition and hide Miriam even for a little while with someone else, there might be word about why or why someone would be hunting for the girl."

"Elvez and Simmons are helping the locals canvass mobile home parks." Rossi took a bite of his Italian sub; it wasn't half bad he decided. Not as good as Rigeo's but it was close.

"Where's Prentiss?" Hotch asked.

"She and Lewis went back to the Rivers house to see if there was anything else we could learn. JJ is dealing with the local press trying to make sure this thing doesn't get out of hand."

Hotch nodded, though in truth, he thought Emily, not his old friend Rossi should be here at the command center.

"I offered to coordinate," Rossi seemed to guess his friend's thoughts. "I think if Prentiss got called Darlin one more time by Smithson, She might ram a boot up his ass. Better to let me deal with him."

 _Prentiss ought to know better than to let trivialities ruffle her if she's going to be team leader_ , Hotch thought. Aloud he said, "Sure you aren't just trying to save yourself climbing all those stairs at the crime scene, or maybe avoiding getting blood on those new shoes?" Hotch grinned at his old friend as Rossi feigned indignation.

Rossi briefly considered telling his friend the truth, that Doctor Benetendi had asked him to take it easy and limit his role in the field until they got the results from the Laparoscopy back. He personally thought the good doctor was being an alarmist. his knee was a bit sore, but it was probably nothing. After all, he had been in an accident. His leg had been broken in several places, there was bound to be residual pain. wasn't that suppose to happen now that he was past 60? He was only complying to appease Joy. He thought better of it, especially with Morgan, a man married to a doc in the room.

A Haggard looking man with a grizzled beard and bushy eye-brows poked his head in the conference room, "I hate to interrupt your dinner boys, but I just got a call from the staties, they think they've found the woman we're looking for."

"Morgan," Hotch began, turning to the muscular agent. Derek Morgan was already pulling his phone from his pocket. Hotch nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll let Emily know to meet us. I trust you'll want to start out with the same approach we used with Kathy Grey?"

"I want to start by sending in Lewis but I want Aurora there to observe. She'll know the nuances and behavioral traits to watch for."

"I have the state boys bringing her here. "The Sherriff exited with a set of keys in his hands, "I hope that's okay.

Hotch gave a brief nod. He prayed this break in the case might just allow him to be home in time for his weekend with Beth and Jack at the cabin.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not claim to own Criminal Minds or it' Characters.

Morgan beckoned Reid and Aurora to the conference room the two teams were sharing as soon as the couple arrived. As they entered, JJ ended a call on her cell phone and turned to face the others.

What happened to dressing like you were from the hood?" JJ arched an eye-brow, giving the new comers a knowing look.

"Change of plans," Aurora said. She wondered why the blond felt compelled to question her. They were working different angles. "The person we had to speak with wouldn't be found in the hood."

JJ nodded, turning serious,"The Bureau is running the woman's prints, but I think we all know she's not going to be in the system by her real name."

Reid gave his friend a confused look.

"Mississippi state police picked up a woman wandering out on highway 42. She was agitated and shocky and it didn't seem to have anything to do with the $50 of merchandise they found in her bag." Morgan began pacing

"JJ, did you ask Garcia to run her age progression software?"

"What do you think?" an indignant voice sounded from the far end of the table where Garcia and Xander were hunched over laptops, "I ran a reverse algorithm and I identified her as Trisha Russell. Her parents were murdered, and she was taken from her home in a small town outside of Sioux Falls South Dakota. She didn't come up in my search 9 years ago because the case was entered as a solve."

"Why?" Reid walked distractedly to the windows.

Aurora noted his demeanor. He'd been like this ever since they left Antoinette's dressing room. She suspected it was more than the stripper turned actress treating him like a piece of great stake. Something was really weighing on the genius profiler's mind.

Garcia's voice intruded into Aurora's thoughts.

"Tricia's father had been scene arguing with his brother in law the previous day. Brother in law had an impressive rap sheet which includes some pretty skivvy activities involving young girls. He claimed he'd never touched a hair on his niece's head. But there was a lot of physical evidence in the house."

"Not surprising if he was family." JJ brushed her hair back.

"Yes, that was his defense, but the judge and the jury didn't buy it. His current residence is Red Ridge Correctional Facility. He got 2 consecutive life sentences." Garcia shook her head sadly, "This time, he was innocent."

"This time, but prisons are full of innocent men. It's hard to tell the genuinely innocent from those who just want out. JJ looked chagrined as she realized what she had just said and to whom. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"

"Excuse me," Reid turned and rushed from the room. He looked tormented, his face had drained of color and there was a tremor in his voice.

"Nice move," Aurora said. She started for the door. Morgan put a hand on the young woman's arm.

"Let him go." Morgan fixed the young woman with a stern look.

"He's upset. He shouldn't be alone." Aurora worked at wrenching her arm free, but her boss's grip was firm. His eyes were kind.

"He won't be." Morgan gave Aurora's arm a squeeze before he exited the room.

"I didn't think." JJ's lips quivered and she shifted nervously in her seat, "I didn't mean to upset him."

"But you did," Aurora tossed back her hair and took a few steps toward the table. JJ noted the fierce look in the other woman's eyes. _Spence means a lot to her_ , JJ mused, _in a way; maybe they are a family of sorts. I should try to remember that_.

There was a tap on the door and DR. Tara Lewis stuck her head in the room.

"Ladies, shall we get this show on the road?" Tara gestured to JJ and Aurora. The profiler rose from her chair and started immediately toward the African American woman. Aurora hung back.

"Aurora, we need you to help us look for behavior and body language queues we might not recognize. You know the culture this woman has lived with.

"Of course." Aurora followed the other women.

Reid sat at the scarred, wooden table in the diner across from the police station, absently fiddling with a turkey and cheese sandwich he wasn't even sure he wanted. As he stared dejectedly out the window.

"Are you up for company?" Derek Morgan broke into Reid's brooding.

"If I say no are you going to just go away or go send Hotch or Rossi out to check on me?" The corners of Reid's mouth twitched up involuntarily as he spoke.

"You don't think I'd respect your privacy?" Morgan cocked an eye-brow.

Reid smirked, "Absolutely not." As he spoke, Reid motioned for the older man to take a seat which he did. A minute later, a thirty something, dark haired waitress glided over, appraising Morgan with interest as she asked if she could get him anything. Morgan ordered a coffee and a slice of apple pie."

"What's eating you Kid? Is it what JJ said? You know she didn't mean anything by it."

"JJ's statement was fact." Reid took a sip of his own now tepid coffee. He made a face, "Not entirely anyway."

Morgan nodded. The two men sat in silence for a while. The waitress reappeared with Morgan's coffee.

"You know, I think I need a refill," Reid turned to face the waitress, "I kind of…."

The waitress glanced from one man to the other. Then smiling she said, "How bout I bring you boys a pot of fresh brew to split, on the house."

"The pot will be fine but we're paying," Morgan offered an easy smile and the waitress departed once more.

After the Waitress brought the coffee and Morgan's pie, Reid took a breath, gathering his thoughts as he did so.

"Aurora said something to me that hit closer to home than I wanted to think about. It reminded me of my conversation with Kat Adams when I was trying to learn where she had hidden my mother."

"Kid, you had to say a lot of things to her that you probably didn't mean to trip her up." Morgan poured a steaming mug of coffee then passed the pot to his friend.

"Not all of what I said to her was entirely a lie; maybe I thought so or told myself so at the time." Reid poured his own cup, adding three sugars. "We were talking about life choices that might be uncomfortable for others to know about." Reid sipped at his coffee; it tasted much better hot he decided. Without revealing Aurora's career as a stripper, Reid described the meeting with Antoinette and the conversation that followed.

Morgan chuckled at Reid's treatment by the actress. He couldn't help it. He grew serious as Reid told him about Aurora's statement about her past.

"I did things in prison, things I never would have imagined myself doing."

"You did what you had to in order to stay alive till the team could clear your name and get you out."

"I know that," Reid sighed, "I didn't feel any guilt about it. I still don't. I did it because I wanted to hurt the ones who hurt my friend, the ones who hurt me, and yes, because I wanted to live."

"You don't need anyone to tell you it's okay to have those feelings. I for one am glad you survived and I'm proud of you for who you've become as a result of that. It's part of why I asked for you." Morgan winked, mischievously, "That and so I could have ample opportunity to give you a hard time and get in a practical joke or two."

Reid returned the smile. He took a bite of his sandwich, it tasted good, he hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"So," Morgan leaned back in his chair, "I've got to ask, how does a genius like you cross paths with a Carny kid?"

Reid considered, bristling slightly at Morgan's description of Aurora. He realized the older man was only making a statement based on available information he had about the young woman. Reid took another bite of his sandwich before answering.

"After someone has a schizophrenic break, most friends and family retreat, they can't handle the intensity of emotions that go with it and the large amount of care the person suddenly requires. It's intimidating. In many ways, they feel like the person they knew is gone. Melinda LeClair was one of the few who stayed. Mom met her in college, and they taught at the same university. Mom taught fifteenth Century Literature and she taught Celtic History when she wasn't off on a crusade of some kind. If she wasn't saving Whales, she was smuggling Marijuana across the border for Cancer patients or rescuing abused pets.

"She sounds like quite a character,"

"She is," Reid laughed, "She's been married more times than Rossi, twice to the love of her life who she always seems to come back to." Reid sipped at his coffee, his brow creasing thoughtfully. "She also took in kids."

"She ran a foster home?" Morgan leaned forward.

"Sort of, she never went through proper protocols for it. She took in the kids foster homes didn't want or couldn't handle, the throw away kids who were just left abandon at rest stops or malls because the parents didn't want to deal with their disabilities, the kids who no one would believe when they told of being molested by other family members, Children who didn't want to be on the streets but had nowhere else to go. It got so even cops knew if they stumbled across kids in trouble who seemed like they might want or need another option, they took them to Dreamer's End, Melinda's ranch so she could help them."

"Sounds like a good friend to have if you're a single parent with mental illness and a kid who might need looking after."

Reid shrugged, "There were a few times, when Mom's episodes were bad enough that Aunt Melinda (Everyone calls her that) would convince Mom that she needed time to be a scholar and I needed fresh air and sunshine. She'd take me to Dreamer's end for a few days; there was always room in her house for one more kid. She always seemed to have a child in the house that was struggling with long division, was trying to make a paper on Edgar Allan Poe come together or needed help on a science project." Reid smiled fondly at the memory, and then grew pensive, "She wasn't happy with my decision to have Mom committed. She didn't believe in psychiatric hospitals. She was winding up to lecture me on it when she got a call she had to take. She left the room and I was in the process of making good my escape. I had left the study and was walking down a hall when I glanced into her living room. That was when I saw Aurora Ashleen for the first time. She was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, holding on with both hands to a cheap, brass locket, staring at the picture inside. She was trying so very hard not to cry and staring at nothing in particular. She appeared to me to be the saddest little girl in the world, and when I looked into her eyes, I saw a mirror of my own pain."

Morgan nodded his understanding. He could see now where Reid's protectiveness came from toward her.

"Aurora didn't talk then. She was a selective mute. I learned later that she had been with Aunt Melinda for 2 months and had not spoken a word to anyone. I came into the room and sat on the floor with her and started talking. She didn't answer and I didn't press. So, we sat there quietly for a while until Aunt Melinda returned. When I moved to leave her, she grabbed my hand and shook her head and said no, very firmly. It was the first time she had spoken since her arrival." Reid made a quick, dismissive gesture with his hand, "Aunt Melinda invited me to stay at Dreamer's end while I arranged Mom's affairs instead of reading me the riot act."

"You knew about her parents then?" Morgan sipped at his coffee.

"Aunt Melinda told me about that later. She said Aurora saw the accident." Reid stopped himself before disclosing what Aurora told him earlier. She had told him about who caused the accident in confidence. After a while, Reid resumed speaking, "I stayed for 8 weeks, longer than I really needed to. Even though we were several years apart in age and worlds apart in education, as you said, she was a carnival child with no formal education at all and I was a child prodigy, we understood what it was like to lose parents. Even though mine were alive; one had walked out of my life with barely a word and Mom….I couldn't face her, I couldn't face her illness and the knowledge that it might be me in a few years. I didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to talk about what happened to hers. I thought about her over the years from time to time. I wondered what had become of her. I hoped she was one of Aunt Melinda's successes and that she was happy. I never expected to see her again or that she would become someone so confident, fierce and…." Reid shrugged helplessly as he searched for words.

"Passionate," Morgan supplied, swiping a pickle from off his friend's plate.

"Hey!" Reid glowered at the older man.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast." Morgan took a bite of the pickle.

The two continued the meal in silence, finishing the coffee.

"Aurora's sitting in on her first interview. With JJ but don't you think her partner, the person who knows her best and who she might feel most comfortable bouncing ideas off of should be in there with her?"

Reid shrugged. "I don't want Aurora Ashleen to know I was that person, that I deliberately caused physical harm to people solely for revenge or self-preservation. Yet how can I continue to be honest with her as a friend if I don't?"

Morgan thought about teasing the young genius about if he was really concerned with how Aurora saw him as a friend but seeing the Earnest expression etched on Reid's face, he thought better of it.

"We all have secrets, even from those we're closest to kid, and no one ever really completely knows another person. Tell her what you're comfortable telling. But for what it's worth, I don't think her opinion of you will diminish any more than yours of hers did."

 _Why do they always look so young_ , DR. Tara Lewis mused as she stepped into the interview room. She studied the woman sitting at the table. Her driver's license said she was twenty-one, but she looked barely sixteen or seventeen. Her dark eyes were wide and fearful. Her mouth was drawn in a thin line. She chewed a fingernail nervously. Her frizzy, inky black hair fell to her shoulders. She wore a purple blouse with flowing sleeves and a scarf of deep blue. Gold hoop earrings dangled from each ear.

"Miah, or should I say Trisha, I am DR. Tara Lewis from the Behavioral Analysis Unit. I'd like to talk to you about your family."

The girl continued to stare straight ahead. Tara sat down across from her.

"Trisha…."

"My name is Miah." The young woman's voice was sullen and defiant.

"I'm sorry, I know you've been with your husband and his family so long, you probably forgot being Trisha, maybe you don't remember your parents."

The woman remained silent.

"You have a husband, a son?" Tara flipped through a folder she had brought into the room. "Did they leave you with the merchandise?" Still, there was no response.

From the other side of the interview room's window, JJ and Aurora listened to the interview. Aurora studied the demeanor of the woman who called herself Miah. She recognized the defiant posture. She knew she had exhibited it herself in her most militant phase. She could see Tara becoming frustrated.

"She can't win her over." Aurora got to her feet and marched toward the door of the interview room.

"You can't just go in there." JJ was on her feet and following her, Grabbing Aurora's arm just before she opened the door. "What are you doing?"

"Getting her to talk." Aurora pulled her arm free then opened the door and stepped inside. She walked purposefully into the interview room.

"I'm sorry Tara," JJ shot the older woman an apologetic look.

"DR. Lewis, I'd like to talk with Miah alone for a few minutes, I think I can help her understand what's going on here. Tara Lewis studied the new arrival a long moment then rose from her seat. Aurora let her gaze flick over the other woman as she leaned back, giving the others a look of boredom. Aurora noted her swollen stomach.

"How far along are you?" Aurora smiled.

The dark-haired woman scowled. "What's it to you?"

"Would you like some peppermint tea?" The woman remained silent.

Aurora asked the same question in Romanian this time adding words of reassurance. The younger woman smiled at Aurora, her expression one of surprise at the words. She nodded to her and Aurora turned to JJ.

"Go get us some tea please."

JJ looked at Aurora incredulously. But at a look from Tara, the blonde nodded and stepped out, followed by her older colleague.

"How many have you had?"

"One boy." She said after a while.

"And how many girls?" Aurora ventured. The other woman squirmed uncomfortably.

"I have one son, and two sons that didn't make it." Miah wrung her hands.

"How many girls did you have?" Aurora persisted, "Or did they tell you they didn't make it too?"

There was a long silence. JJ arrived with the tea and placed the mug before Miah. She left the room and the silence persisted.

"Maybe I had a daughter, maybe she died. I don't know. Danny says this will be a son. Danny says they are all sons.

Aurora considered before speaking again. "I'm not one of them," She indicated Lewis who had returned to the corner of the room and leaned against the wall, watching impassively. "I'm just a guide, making sure they give our people a fair chance."

Miah regarded her more closely. Aurora was glad she had insisted on a moment to step into the locker room before they arrived at the interrogation room. She had slipped out of the formal dress and now sat clad in a green and blue long skirt, a blue shirt sleeve sweater and her long, colorful scarf, more in keeping with her culture.

"The man you are with has been taught wrong. His line has perverted our culture. Girl children are not taken from their mother's, boys do not have to steal their wives, their parents arrange things with different bands when their children are of an age."

"Danny said she died." Miah insisted.

"She probably is dead." Aurora rose, "And if this one is a girl, he will arrange for her to be killed too unless he sees a way to make money off her or curry favor with another band or unless the midwife takes pity and gives her to someone." Again, Aurora gestured to Lewis, "They can help you keep your child safe. I will make sure of it. But you have to tell them about the girl you took for your son. You have to tell them why you hid her with the other family."

Tears pooled in Miah's eyes. Aurora saw the struggle within her. She understood it. She had fought a similar inner battle when she received the letter from Derek Morgan, when she had to choose whether to search alone for Eden Ann relying on her wits, or to trust outsiders to assist her.

"My child won't know who they are, they will not tell them. They scorn us."

"The child will know who they are and will learn the right teachings of our culture. You have my word on that." Aurora locked gazes with Miah for a long moment. She gave a heavy sigh and Aurora nodded to Lewis. She started toward the door then turned back, offering a friendly smile to Miah, "It will be okay."

Hotch was in the act of reviewing field reports from other sections on his laptop in his temporary work space when the door flew open and SSA Emily Prentiss sailed into the room.

"Do you want to explain to me why JJ is fetching tea and sitting in observation while a civilian is in the interview with Tara?"

Hotch blinked irritably. This was exactly the kind of thing he had thought he was going to avoid.

"By civilian you mean Aurora Carstaire's?"

"She has no training in interviewing and JJ outranks her, she shouldn't be ordering her around like some kind of servant!"

"It's not like JJ to complain if an interview takes a turn."

"JJ didn't complain, you know her, she never does." Prentiss glared at her boss.

"I wanted Lewis to conduct the interview solo. JJ needs to monitor the press. This isn't like the case in Harvest. They involved another family. There is something much bigger in play and we need to make sure the unsub doesn't feel compelled to finish Miriam. We don't have time for guess work. Aurora's knowledge of Romani culture and behaviors will allow Lewis to get through to this woman more quickly, the way we used your knowledge of Arabic at Guantanamo."

"That's not the point, this is my team, and I should be making decisions about interview strategy. I know them and what they are capable of." Prentiss took a step closer to Hotch's desk.

The senior agent rose to his feet and stepped from behind the desk, towering over the woman.

"You were not at the command center to be consulted." Hotch began, "And you don't know your team well enough."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Prentiss gaped. Okay, maybe she was pushing things, but she didn't deserve this. Morgan was right, if someone took a desk job they should stay at their desk, not go meddling in field work.

"If you knew your team you would have kept a closer eye on Reid when he brought his mother to live with him."

"He told me he was okay, that he was handling things."

"This is Reid, you know how private he is, or you should have. And while we're on the subject, why exactly was it that it took you 3 months to get his name cleared? And for God's sake, when Scratch was going after the team, why was it you put protective details around everyone's family, but you left Reid's mother exposed."

Prentiss was indignant. She couldn't believe Hotch was tearing into her just because, she objected to his usurping her authority.

"Diana Reid was in a Psychiatric facility on a locked ward. They had security."

"This was scratch, the man hacked the FBI computer systems. He was a super math genius; do you really think rent-a-cops and a hospital security system would have stopped him. And what about when Diana was living with Reid? Certainly, while he was in jail, there should have been some effort to protect her but no, nothing. As a result of your negligence, a woman was murdered, and Diana Reid was kidnapped. You were careless."

"I wanted to help Reid, but we had orders, I had to play within the rules. You know what that's like." Prentiss was mad, partly because she heard the truth in her superior's words. She should have done more to protect Reid's mother. The death of her nurse and the mental setback Diana Reid had suffered as a result of her ordeal at the hands of Lindsay Vaughn was squarely on her shoulders.

"I did the best I could but the bureau didn't have Reid's back so they wouldn't have authorized us focusing on clearing Reid. We could not seem to be helping him."

"This team is a family, we look out for each other, we take risks for each other." Hotch's voice was deadly calm and cool now, "Or have you forgotten about Ian Doyle."

Prentiss felt as though she had been punched in the gut. She couldn't believe Hotch had brought that up. Again, she was forced to realize he was right, everyone on the team had put their career on the line for her during the Ian Doyle case. That was not the first time either. Prentiss remembered the time they slipped around protocol to help catch a man who had shot Garcia Then there was what happened to Morgan when he was home visiting his mother and of course, the Reaper. They took care of each other. Pride wouldn't allow her to admit it aloud. Instead, she turned her back and stalked from the room.

Hotch heaved a heavy sigh. He hadn't meant to have that conversation mid-case. However, Prentiss needed to be reined in. He only hoped this confrontation hadn't complicated things and wouldn't take focus off getting Miriam home to her relatives. Sighing once more, Hotch strode from the office to see what was going on in the interview room. He found JJ sitting in the observation area with Aurora and Reid. While she appeared to be listening to the interview, her focus was on her tablet, her fingers dancing over the screens as she monitored news feeds and communicated with reporters and bloggers, managing the story. Aurora was leaning forward, a hand on her chin, earnestly listening. Occasionally she would turn to Reid and ask a question or speak into a lapel mic. Lewis appeared to have the interview in hand. The young subject was tearfully telling a story. Lewis was making notes. Aurora picked up a pad that had been lying on her lap and began scribbling something down. Hotch felt a weight lift. Everyone here was doing their job; the situation was in hand. He continued to the conference room where Rossi, Simmons and Alvez were gathered around a local map, their heads together. Morgan was on the other side of the room in consult with Garcia and Gallagher. Again, Hotch nodded to himself as he returned to his office, secure in the knowledge the team was hard at work. Emily Prentiss was nowhere in sight, but Aaron Hotchner knew his people and he was confident that when she calmed down and got beyond her hurt feelings, she would return and apply herself to the case. After that, well, they would just have to see.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters

Reid scrubbed at his eyes, fighting the urge to fall asleep as he navigated the busy streets of New Orleans. He wished they had been able to take the jet but understood Aurora's logic though he found it hard to believe the people they were meeting would have such good connections they'd know the owner of the private plane they flew in on.

"You should have let me drive at least part of the way," Aurora shifted in the passenger's seat, rubbing the back of her neck and wincing in pain, "We would have gotten here two hours ago and had time to check into a motel and grab a nap."

"More likely we'd check into the morg," Reid narrowed his eyes as he searched for a parking place near the café where they would meet their contact.

"Are you saying I'm a bad driver? You should see me on my Harley, now with that, I'll admit to driving recklessly. I have landed in the emergency room a few times."

"That's it; you've gotten too many concussions, so you've forgotten how to drive safely." In spite of his exhaustion and grumpy mood, Reid found a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Aurora tossed her auburn hair back, fixing her companion with a cool look, "I'll have you know I always wear a helmet. My injuries have been to my shoulder, wrist and a couple broken ribs. But in a car, I am less aggressive."

"We're here, I need coffee." Reid pulled the keys from the ignition and the pair strolled to the tables set out on the sidewalk in front of a shop who's brightly painted sign announced it as Desiree's Café. A young woman with skin the color of caramel and curly dark hair strolled over to their table. She placed menus before them. "Granma just took some beignets out of the oven. I could bring you a basket and a pot of coffee to start you off if you like."

"That would be great, I was telling my friend here on the drive up that you haven't lived till you've tasted Desiree's fresh baked Beignets."

The woman grinned, showing gold fillings in her two front teeth. She hurried back into the restaurant.

"This place is a haunt for Romani; it's considered a safe place to conduct business." Aurora told Reid, "When I followed Valentin back to the rest of the family, we spent a lot of time here when we got done picking pockets in the French quarter."

"When did you take up dancing? For that matter, when did you start picking pockets?"

Aurora sighed; she had hoped Spencer would have forgotten her promise to tell him about her rebellious years. She supposed it was inevitable. _Be honest, you don't mind if Spencer knows how you went off the rails, you're just afraid he'll think less of you when he knows the details._ Aurora scolded herself.

"I never really fit in with other kids," Aurora's gaze drifted seeming to stare at something miles in the distance, "A few girls made a pet of me, their version of kindness. I was different, no matter how hard I tried to fit in, and it wasn't just that I was trying to catch up academically. My priorities and dreams were different, and I was still half afraid. I knew though most people saw me as less, I figured it was because I was a Carney kid more than because I was Romani."

"You said Aunt Melinda didn't let your ethnicity be known because she was afraid people would hold it against you.

The waitress returned with a coffeepot, two mugs and a basket covered with a red checkered cloth. When she left, Aurora continued. "Do you remember Gino Deluca?"

"Yes, Aunt Melinda's Fifth x-husband, the one that was a land developer. He wanted to get into politics right before the divorce."

Aurora nodded, "Without checking with Aunt Melinda, he arranged for a news crew to come and do a feature piece on he and his wife and how they helped the children no one wanted, run always, and throw always and he told the reporter the histories of some of us, things Melinda had told him in confidence."

"Including that you were Romani? I bet that went over real well."

"Like a belch in church. Especially since he gave the reporter the back history out of her earshot, she worked in the voice over and her questions to him about us later. Mount Vesuvius had nothing on her when the story aired. She was mad enough about him surprising her with the filming, she didn't like us kids being exploited but after that…. when she found him….but that was all over the press, I'm sure even in California they reported it."

"I read something about an under-age prostitute." Reid took a sip of the coffee, feeling his dulled and sleep deprived senses snap awake as the liquid hit his tongue.

Aurora giggled as she watched Spencer's eyes go wide at his first sip of Desiree's special blend of coffee. Then she turned serious. "After that, the pity and dismissiveness from people at school turned to distrust and suspicion. During the interview Gino hinted that he expected me to steal from him and that he wasn't entirely sure I hadn't. Suddenly I was viewed as a troublemaker. After a while I decided if people were going to see me that way, what the hell."

Reid shook his head sadly. He wished he had stayed in touch as he had promised, perhaps if he had known he could have offered some encouragement.

"Aunt Melinda didn't fight me when I asked to be emancipated. She let me go my own way for a time then she showed up and told me the pity party had gone on long enough, I had two choices, I could let Gino win and justify every stereotype society had about my people, or I could become their advocate, I could honor my culture as I had been raised to do."

"That sounds like Melinda." Reid took a more tentative sip of the coffee, feeling the remaining cobwebs clear from his brain.

"How did you find Valentin; you must have been what fourteen at the time all of that happened."

"I had just turned fifteen. I met him in Caesar's Palace casino, I was strip mining and he was picking the pocket of a high roller at the next blackjack table, we ran into each other while we were both running away from security." Aurora couldn't help laughing at the memory. "While we were eating tacos on a bus stop bench, he told me he had been shadowing me for six months, his father was my mother's brother, and they had been trying to find me since they heard about the accident. When they realized where I was, they were content to let me be as Melinda had a reputation for being a Romani at heart, she had connections in that world but if I ever left there, Val was to make himself known and bring me back to the family."

Aurora took another bite of beignet, washing it down with the strong coffee as she studied her companion, again, searching for a sign he saw her as less. Once more, Reid seemed unshaken by her words. There was no sign of pity or disgust in his expression. In fact, there seemed a hint of something Aurora couldn't put a name to, it seemed a mix of respect and maybe regret. She wondered why the latter.

Reid was about to say something when he spotted the two men walking toward them. Both were tall, with dark eyes and wavy, jet black hair. The older one had silver streaking through his hair and his neatly trimmed goatee and mustache. He held a walking stick in one hand with a silver lion's head at its top. His companion's features were classically handsome, like that of a movie star. Both men wore suits; the older man's a somber grey while the younger one had chosen a cool blue. The older one wore a Crimson colored Harvard tie and horn-rimmed glasses.

Aurora stood and embraced each man in turn.

"Uncle Leo, Valentin, it is good to see you both." Aurora gestured to Reid, "This is Spencer Reid."

"You brought an outsider to this meeting?" The older man, Leo spoke to Aurora in Romanian. Reid recognized the speech. He decided he would have to learn this language if he was to truly be useful on this case.

"Spencer is not an outsider, not to me." Aurora answered her uncle in kind.

"You aren't married without my permission this time?" Leo continued in the old tongue. Aurora caught Reid's eye, hoping he would understand and play along with what she was about to do.

Reaching across the table, Aurora took Reid's hand as she spoke, "We are close, aunt Melinda brought me to him."

The older man turned his attention to Reid, regarding him shrewdly then nodded. He motioned to Valentin and the two men took seats. The waitress returned, carrying a second covered basket and a large bowl of fresh fruit.

"Antoinette told me you're meddling in the renegade business again." Valentin, the younger man began.

"I'm not meddling; I'm trying to put a stop to it." Aurora's voice was sharp and defiant. Reid noticed the same spark he had seen when she and the actress had squared off. _These may be her people but her relationship with them is stormy_ , Reid surmised.

"Are you questioning the leadership of the counsel?" Leo frowned at the young woman. They had switched to English now.

"Of course not, I am trying to assist." Aurora held her hands clinched together on the top of the table. She sat ram rod straight in her chair, defiantly meeting her uncle's stare.

"Sir, Reid began, ignoring the glare Aurora sent his way, "I respect that you're a member of a closed society and would choose to police yourself. You have methods of doing so, that have been handed down from generation to generation. But I would humbly ask that you hear Aurora out. She has her own reasons for wanting these people stopped from polluting your traditions and bringing unwanted outside attention your way."

The two men shared a look. Valentin grinned and the older man turned and regarded Reid with interest.

"Aurora you are fortunate you were taken in by my sister, for that reason, and because your man speaks so courteously, I will indulge you somewhat, but my final word must be heeded."

"Yes, Uncle." Aurora cast her eyes downward as she spoke.

"Now, tell us what it is you want."

The knocking on Aaron Hotchner's temporary office door brought the section chief out of his reverie; he hit send on the text he had been composing to Beth. "Come in," he called.

Emily Prentiss entered carrying two go cups. She placed one before her boss then walked back to close the door.

I thought coffee that wasn't from the machine in here would be an appropriate peace offering."

Hotch said nothing. Prentiss shifted nervously on her feet. She had been up all night, her boss's words ringing in her ears. Mentally Prentiss reminded herself that she had done what she had to, she had followed the rules, something she knew the powers that be had had concerns about her being able to do. She had done what she thought was best. Little by little, Prentiss realized that she could have and should have done more for Reid. More than that, she had failed him by leaving his mother unprotected.

"I should have assigned protection to Diana and I should have done more for Spencer. Is that why Morgan asked for Reid? Because you didn't think I could do right by him?"

"I would never tell anyone, especially Derek Morgan who to select for his team. I trust his judgment."

"And you don't trust mine," Prentiss bristled at the implication. She fought down additional words she wanted to say.

"I question many of your decisions. I believe you are often overconfident." Hotch picked up the mug of coffee and drank.

"I wasn't opposed to it when Morgan asked for Reid. I knew the two of them worked well together."

Prentiss took a sip of her own coffee while she walked to the window of the office, staring at the street below as the town came to life. She thought about the little girl they were searching for, scared and alone with the man Miah had called the daemon. She'd read the transcript of the interview when she came to the conclusion sleep wasn't happening. It was chilling, how he had ingratiated himself to the family, getting them to take him and his two small sons in. then, when they got the girl for their son, she had watched as he tortured her husband for the girl's location then slaughtered him and left with the boy, claiming he was returning the Romani to their true path. Prentiss feared they wouldn't find Miriam Rivers in time. From the things Miah had said, it sounded as though the Daemon was Dorien Travalian, the young boy they had thought could be saved in juvenile detention. She thought about the mission Reid and Aurora were on in New Orleans; Morgan had told her how they left last night after the interview. She hoped with Aurora's knowledge of the Romani society, and Reid's ability to profile, they could find the child and bring her home. She would gladly let Morgan and his team take the credit here if it got Miriam to the relatives now waiting at the Holiday Inn across the street.

"Tell me something Hotch," Prentiss turned slowly to face her superior as she spoke, "If you find me so irresponsible, why didn't you stand behind Linda Barns and ask for my removal. You know she would have put you back in charge of the team."

"Because whatever my feelings about your job performance Emily, the team trusts and respects you, even Reid. I value the BAU and what they do enough to put the team's needs above my feelings. And I do think the Auxiliary Investigation Unit will be a help for you. It will allow you to remain focused and prevent situations like last year from recurring."

Prentiss nodded, turning toward the door. She knew there was nothing appropriate she could say in response. Hotch watched her go. He supposed he could have added that his priorities were different now. That the year spent in Witsec had helped him change his values, reminding him what was truly important. Then there had been the matter of Beth returning to him. Aaron Hotchner was determined not to waste this second chance. But Emily didn't need to know that, not yet, she would find out when everyone else did. As if on cue, his phone pinged, reaching for it, Hotch found a text from Beth. It was one word. "Yes!" A wide grin split the section chief's face, revealing his boyish dimples. Yet another second chance was being bestowed on the section chief. He found himself humming an old Paul Anka song they had danced to at a 50s revival event in Vermont, their first dance while getting back together. The song was more than appropriate, He thought now as he sent a note to Beth, suggesting a novel way to share the good news with the team. Beth wrote back a few seconds later with a thumbs up emoji.

Garcia nearly collided with Xander as she hurried into the conference room. She glanced at the table. A tea pot sat in the middle of the table with a bowl of creamer and another of sugar packets. On a plate sat fresh biscuits along with jars of honey and marmalade as well as a basket of fruit.

"What's all this," Garcia stared at the spread, feeling her stomach rumble.

"Since I got us up early with my brainstorm, I thought it was only fair I see to breakfast. There is a market down the street which has everything a proper southerner needs to start the day off right and deputy Williams was kind enough to find me this little tea set they bring out when the mayor and the sheriff have to have a sit down." Xander pulled out a chair for Garcia.

"Thank you, kind sir. I am feeling famished, oh, and is that Earl Grey?"

"It's actually an English Breakfast Tea. I heard you and JJ talking last night in the lobby and I had the idea you were fond of things British." Xander grinned proudly even as he helped himself to a biscuit, coating it liberally with both the honey and marmalade. Garcia poured tea, adding cream and sugar to her own then took an orange and began peeling it.

"I was actually going to come find you when you called me," Garcia took a bite of her orange, enjoying the tangy flavor. "I woke up at 3 in the morning and got this idea of checking again to see if anything taken from the Rivers house showed up at any of the pawn shops." Garcia turned her attention to the biscuits, spreading Marmalade on one and nibbling on it. "Do you remember a fence named Billy Wayne Wright?"

"Yah, we didn't see anything in his file to indicate he had dealings with the Romani." Xander took a bite of biscuit. _There is nothing like biscuits made from scratch and slathered in sweet things_ , Xander mused.

"Maybe not in the past," Garcia fairly bounced in her seat with triumph, "But last night, security cameras caught a swarthy skinned man of about 20 doing business with MR. Wright, more specifically, selling him a Bowes radio,, a digital camera, and a ruby and Diamond necklace and a pair of gold earrings that all came from the Rivers home."

"I thought the Romani were better criminals than that. I mean you still something then pawns it while the investigation is still hot! That's stupid criminal 101. You lie low and wait till the heat dies down before you unload the goods." Xander considered the offerings in the fruit bowl before deciding on a slice of honey dew Mellon.

"He could have been on a time constraint. He knows the law is looking for the girl. Maybe he realizes he made a mistake leaving Miah alive and he figures he better get some cash and scram." Garcia sipped daintily at her tea.

"Why do you think they did that, it didn't seem like this guy was the soul of compassion. He came across as ruthless from what that interview said."

Garcia gave a brief nod, "One of the differences between this branch of the Romani, (actually, the correct way to refer to them would be a band) , is that they assign no value at all to women, a female's job is to bare children and take care of home."

Garcia noted a brief hardening of her partner's features at her words. His eyes took on that same flinty stare she had seen when she referred to him the way others had addressed his father.

"Barefoot and pregnant." Xander spat out the words, curling his lips into a sneer, "Why is it so hard for members of my gender to remember women were created with brains just like us?"

"I ask that question every day, especially when my mechanic looks at me like I can't possibly know what I'm talking about when I bring my car into the shop."

"It is always a mistake to underestimate what goes through a female's mind."

Garcia gave him a quizzical look, "Is that how you got away with conning women so long, you were aware of their intelligence?"

"Yes, actually," Xander took another slice of honey Dew, "I never looked at my marks as base sexual creatures. That's where other men in my former line of work made their mistake." Xander brushed at his bangs, "Yes, I swept them off their feet. I used every romantic move in the book and some I dreamed up on my own. But I never forgot they were people just like me and they were quite capable of challenging me."

Xander waited for a biting comment from Penelope, something critical. But she seemed taken aback by his candor. He himself was surprised to be opening up to Penelope.

"I'm sure that was a comfort to them when you cleaned out their bank accounts, that you respected them as people." Garcia's voice was cool.

"I hope it was." Xander shrugged, accepting that he probably deserved the words.

The conference room door swung open and Derek Morgan strode in.

"Come on Gallagher, time for you to make yourself useful. You and I are going to pay a call on Billy Wayne Wright."

"The BAU isn't going to be handling that?" Xander asked.

"They are out canvassing mobile home parks and malls where this guy might go to score more cash for his new band."

"I was about to start working with Garcia on trolling chat rooms for word of any reports of Romani activity. Just because they are low tech doesn't mean people, they associate with are."

"I've got this." Garcia said,

"You might want to also look at Herbalists and new age type places that sell herbs and natural remedies. Miah did say one of the boys had been ill, he might have gotten something to help him before he found Miah and her husband."

Garcia nodded, already producing her laptop and pushing the breakfast things aside. Xander rose to his feet.

"Let's go Tubbs."

Morgan gave the younger man an irritable look before leading the way out of the conference room.

"Absolutely not!" Leo banged his hand down on the table for emphasis when Aurora finished making her request.

"Why not! You agree the renegades represent a blight on our culture, why can't I drop a dime on them so law enforcement can scoop them all up."

"We handle our own problems; we can deal with this."

"Because you've been doing such a bang-up job of making them stop perverting our culture!" Aurora glared challengingly at her Uncle.

"I will not tolerate disrespect!" Leo met Aurora's defiance with a stony look. He said something in Romanian to Valentin." Reid didn't understand the words, but he read the body language of the men well enough to know the situation was deteriorating.

"Aurora, we are handling the Renegades, you have to trust us. They are slippery. Their arguments for the way they act have an appeal to some who realize how close our culture is to vanishing. There are more people like the music box maker and his family who choose to live outside the community. Even you have chosen a different path."

"There are other ways to recruit than kidnapping like common thieves and pirates." Aurora was on her feet now, her words clipped and sharp as daggers.

"Enough!" Leo stood as well, motioning for his son to join him. Reid made a placating gesture, motioning the men to sit.

"" Aurora Ashleen," Reid began, turning to his friend and speaking in a tone as sharp as her own, "Calm down! You gave your word to accept your Uncle's final decision."

"But…." Aurora turned a shocked gaze on Spencer. She never imagined he would speak to anyone the way he was speaking to her now. She was annoyed he was treating her in much the same way Valentin treated Antoinette. Reluctantly, she sat back down. Her actions earned a nod of approval from her Uncle and a chuckle from her cousin as they too resumed their seats.

Reid turned his attention to the two men.

"We would like you to think of us as procurers of lost things, except that what is lost here is a child. That child's disappearance is bringing unwanted scrutiny to your people. As I understand it, known camps are being rousted; police are searching mobile home parks. All they want is this one little girl, so they can return her to her family, and for those who took her to face consequences for their action. If they can be eradicated from your midst, it will avoid others getting swept up in their search."

Leo and Valentin exchanged a look. The younger man said something to his companion in Romanian and he gave a thoughtful nod.

"We will dine again tomorrow, lunch this time." Leo extended his hand to Reid who took it, Returning the firm grip.

"He Repeated the gesture with Valentin and the two men took their leave.

When the men had departed, Aurora turned angrily to Reid What the Hell was that about!"

"You wanted them to think we were engaged, just waiting for final approval from Leo, correct?" Reid took a bite of a beignet, savoring the sweet taste and making a mental note to see if his old friend Ethan knew of this place.

"Yah," Aurora's shrugged in defeat. That was my intent."

"Then I had to show respect for the culture by treating you as the men in your society interact with their women. That meant also, showing respect to your Uncle and cousin, something you forgot."

"Meaning….?" Aurora's tone was sulky.

"Your temper nearly cost us their cooperation. You can't alienate people who could help us get to this little girl."

"There's more at stake than just one kid." Aurora leaned forward, meeting Reid's stare.

"I agree, and I understand you are trying to find out about Eden Ann. But you can't sacrifice one child in the name of your personal cause. You're lucky I studied in more detail what information there was online about the Romani. Your thesis paper gave a lot of useful information."

"You read my master's Thesis?" Aurora blinked.

"Yes," Reid hesitated before speaking, not sure exactly why he had brought up his friend's paper. He acquired a respect for the people of the Romani culture. They had been relentlessly persecuted throughout history, even to the point of being nearly extinct by Adolph Hitler. Yet, still there were pockets of Romani in many countries, continuing to do what they could to preserve a culture of creativity, and complex ritual. But this wasn't the time for that conversation.

"We're partners Aurora, that means you can't just make things up as we go along. What just happened could have gone very badly if I hadn't done my homework. You may be an expert on Romani culture, but I have more experience in interviewing witnesses and people who may be able to provide help in an investigation. You have to tell me before you make a move so we can plan how best to work the situation. This isn't like your Fallen Angels work."

"Sorry, it wasn't like we had a lot of time. You wanted to talk about my juvenile Delinquency, remember?" Aurora's voice was still petulant. Though she was still processing the fact that Spencer had actually taken time to read her thesis, he had viewed it as research, something she had always wanted, to have her knowledge viewed as a scholarly piece concerning the Romani. However, that didn't make her feel any better about the dressing down she was getting. _Spencer's right,_ Aurora admitted to herself, _you could have tabled talking about your past and told him what you were thinking. You probably also should have told him about Kieran._

"Okay, well, let's plan how we want to handle this next meeting now. No more surprises, Okay."

Aurora gave a quick nod. She took a deep breath before speaking, "Uncle Leo is trying to see how he can work this to his advantage. He wouldn't have asked for another meeting if he didn't see something that could help him. He won't see it at first, but Val will make the case for him. He'll probably come up with the beginning of a plan. He'll most likely research you." Aurora finished her thought slowly. She licked her lips nervously. She knew they were about to get into another touchy area.

Reid winced, If Valentin looked into him, he'd learn he was a federal agent. As if guessing his thoughts, Aurora continued, "They will learn your FBI, but they will also learn that you were in prison, Aurora dropped her gaze but not before she noted the pained expression her friend wore. "They probably won't ask you about it, but if they do, I can't protect you with redirection, not unless you stop me like you did before. My role is to be submissive." Aurora grimaced as she said the last.

"I'm getting that taking direction is not your strength." Reid offered a slight smile as he spoke.

"You're right, in Fallen Angels the partnerships were different. When I was actually on the street, I was acting alone, reading each situation and responding to what was in front of me in that moment. I'm not used to planning and strategizing. I would have learned that had I grown up Romani. In the carnival, everyone had a voice and when my parents were planning their routine, they functioned as a unit. When I was going to join them…." Aurora let her voice trail off swallowing a lump that started to form in her throat, as she recalled her last few days with the people who raised her. Instinctively, Reid extended a hand, placing it over hers.

Aurora's phone rang and she drew back her hand, reaching for her pack she extracted her phone, "Dammit! I need to take this." Aurora stepped away as she answered the call.

Reid watched as she walked off, her red floral skirt billowing in a slight breeze that kicked up, her hair fanning out around her. He thought about what she said, he really didn't want to talk about his prison experiences. He could let Aurora try to protect him. _There's no letting her Spencer, you see how she is, she will interject if she thinks you're being upset, that in her mind is a partnership_ , Spencer reminded himself. He reviewed what he had read and realized, there was a way to use his checkered past to their advantage.

Aurora returned a few minutes later. "I'm sorry, that was Lakin, he's my partner in Fallen Angels. I missed my in for the night and wake up check ins. If I missed a third one, I'd be kicked out of Fallen Angels."

Reid gave her a questioning look.

"We all come from a dark place when we get to Fallen Angels and it's easy, especially given what we see, for us to get sucked back into the darkness. So, we are assigned a partner not to work at our side like you and I, not exactly anyway but, to keep us from slipping over the edge as it were. Someone to talk to when we re-open old wounds."

"Why did you miss your check ins?" Reid asked. He couldn't help feeling a bit envious. It would have been nice at times to have someone to talk to that had been there and understood what he had been through, why he had done the things he did and how conflicted in many ways he still was about it.

Aurora shrugged, "You called it right, I got tunnel vision." Aurora picked up her coffee mug then put it down without drinking, "All I could think of was that if we could crash a wedding with many of the renegades in attendance, maybe we could not only save Miriam but we might find Eden Anne or find someone who could lead us to her. I feel like if I can't find her then my parents will have died in vane and I will have broken my word to help her. I don't have the right to have a happy life of my own until I make it right, I feel like. I should have done more then. I have to do more now."

Reid remembered Luis. How he had stood helplessly by as two men murdered him right in front of him in the prison laundry room after he had tried to protect him from having to smuggle drugs. He thought of Maeve who took a bullet in the head when her stalker shot herself, right in front of him while he was trying to rescue Maeve. He even remembered the teen boy Ryan he couldn't prevent hitman Jack Vaughn from murdering at his daughter's request. _You aren't so different, admit it,_ Reid thought, _you are both trying to make up for situations out of your control and maybe being a little unrealistic about it._ Reid understood Aurora was probably not any more ready to hear that than he was to truly deal with it yet. He could barely admit his feelings to himself.

"I don't think she expects you to put your life on hold for her." Reid's gaze locked with Aurora, "I know it's hard to let go of feeling like you owe them. I have the same feelings."

"What do you do with them?"

"I'm still working on that." Reid gave Aurora a rueful look, "I have to keep reminding myself that I won't save them all."

"And that works?" Aurora glanced hopefully at her companion.

"Sometimes." Reid brushed at his hair, "And the rest of the time, I have to find a way to push through until I can save the next one."

"

The pair sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, the waitress came back. At Aurora's suggestion, Reid ordered strawberry Crapes while she ordered a ham and cheese omelet. When their meal arrived along with a refill of coffee, Reid turned to Aurora.

"Let's talk about how we can arrange some kind of agreement with Leo and Valentin, if they are coming up with half of a plan, we should have another half so we can compromise it and when we meet with them, I will take the lead. Agreed?"

Aurora gave a quick nod of agreement.

"I will try, but it may be hard for me. When I see people, I care about in pain, I want to protect them."

"You are a Romani woman, your guardian arranged for you to become betrothed to me, that means you must let me fight my own battles and be my solace in private you must stand beside me not before me. Is that correct?"

"You're a quick study," Aurora smiled. She added, "I will try, and I will except your reproof when I fail with as much meekness as I can, but remember, I was schooled by aunt Melinda."

They shared a laugh at her words.

As Morgan and Xander entered the cluttered shop. There were only two customers, a mousy haired, fidgety woman and a skinny man wearing a silver single earring with tattoos on both arms and shifty eyes. He took one look at Morgan then turned around and hastily scrambled out the door. The woman stood at the counter, pushing a set of silver cufflinks across the counter to a heavy set, balding man in a stained flannel checked shirt. The two men looked around the room. Items of every description sat on shelves. Most looked junky and careworn but there were a few items of obvious value.

"He probably keeps the really good stuff in back," Xander said, eying a Buda sculpture with a crack in the scull." Good way to keep the cops at bay, at first glance, this guy is small time and doesn't have much. "

"Probably most of this is legitimate merchandise like what that woman is pawning for drug money. But anything hot is kept out of sight."

"Come on Xander, how can you be sure what she wants the money for."

"Look at her Tubs, "the way she can't keep still, she's jonsing bad, probably for Mollies. I saw it a dozen times with my girls."

Xander looked down sadly as he thought about not only those of his working girls like Jenn but the many others being run by other pimps. They all had the same frantic look; as though they were afraid the world would end if they didn't get another fix yesterday. It still angered him to think of how far beaten down the girls were to need such an escape and how he played a part in their denigration.

Morgan noted the younger man's discomfort. It surprised him. It wasn't often that he saw someone he arrested truly repentant for their actions. It validated his choice of Xander for his team. He watched as the woman eagerly scooped up the cash on the counter and scuttled away. Motioning to Xander, the pair moved to the counter.

"Billy Wayne Wright?" Morgan laid his badge on the counter. "Derek Morgan FBI. This is Xander Gallagher. We'd like a word if you don't mind."

"I do mind," Billy Wayne spoke with a deep drawl; his voice had a nasal quality. He regarded the badge with beady eyes. "I run a legal pawn shop. A fair exchange of money for goods."

"How much did you give that woman for those cufflinks?" Xander leaned in close, "They were real sterling Silver, Brooks Brothers I think."

"$10, they were scratched." Billy Wayne held up the item for Xander's inspection.

"Come on Xander." Morgan fixed the younger man with a stern look."

"Tubs, she should have gotten triple for those things. Believe me, I know my accessories."

"They are scratched, see here," the store owner pointed to a very tiny, barely perceptible knick. Xander gave the fence a dubious look.

"Hey," Billy Wayne held up a hand, "I'm a businessman! I'm trying to make a profit here. Nothing wrong with that. So, I might have short-changed a junkie, where's the harm in that. She won't know."

"The harm in that is that it's fraudulent. And it would be very bad for business if word got out that you short your customers." Xander said, "Believe me, I know all about fraud and you aren't a big enough fish to get a ticket to club fed."

Billy Wayne shifted nervously, glancing between the two men.

"If you're right about that Gallagher, we're going to have to shut this place down and go through this entire joker's merchandise and make sure the value matches up and that none of it is stolen."

"Morgan, he ripped off his customers but he's not stupid enough to be taking in hot goods as well."

Billy Wayne began sweating. He fidgeted with his hands.

"No, nothing stolen here." His words tumbled out, "I just give people a little quick cast to get them to the next pay day and if I make a profit."

Even as he spoke, Billy Wayne's glances became more and more furtive, flicking toward the back of the shop and then to the hard eyed Xander and the hulking Morgan.

Xander and Morgan remained silent for several minutes, Morgan leaned over the counter, glaring at the man while Xander wandered about, picking up and examining items carefully.

"Okay…." Billy Wayne said at last, "What do you want to know."

"We need to know about a customer of yours from last night. He brought in a radio, a camera and some jewelry." Morgan pinned the shop keeper with a relentless stair.

"My customers expect a certain degree of confidentiality; I can't just tell you about them."

"Then I guess we'll have to see your books. You have books, right?" Morgan sighed as though going over the store transactions was going to be a great hardship. Billy Wayne gave them a blank look. "You do have books?" Morgan's tone was shocked.

"I told you, stupid Criminal 101, this guy rips off his customers and doesn't get the province of his goods before he accepts them. No worries though. I'll just get my Lady Penelope to hack into his computer. Even morons keep their records on computer these days."

"Yah, Have Garcia go back to the beginning, as long as the shop's been open, tell her I'll send Reid to help her when he gets back to town."

Billy Wayne licked his lips nervously. "Unless you want to re-think your confidentiality policy." The man looked up at Morgan. He glanced back to Xander who had pulled out a phone from his suit jacket and was dialing.

"I don't know the guy's name; I never saw him before last night. He was just some guy who needed cash in a hurry. He said his kid was sick and he needed money for the doc. I even paid out more than I should have. I could hear the poor thing wailing all the way from the car outside. I got a soft spot for kids. Got a boy of my own."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're all heart." Xander turned an icy stair on the man.

"He had a kid with him?" Morgan stepped around the counter, slowly invading the man's space.

"The kids were in the car. I heard the one and when he left, I saw the one sitting beside one of those booster car seat things."

"Did you see or hear anything else?" Morgan matched the store owner step for step as he tried to back away from him. Billy Wayne shook his head vigorously.

"What kind of car?" Now Xander stepped to the counter, lifting up and pocketing the discarded cufflinks.

"I don't know." Billy Wayne began, "It was a car, old, grey, dusty. It had a broken headlight. I gave him heads up about our ticket happy sheriff and the name of my brother Clyde's Garage, but he blew me off." Billy Wayne thought a little while then added, "There was a sticker on the truck from someplace called Merriweather Campgrounds. At least I think that's what it said; it was half covered in mud."

"Thank you for your help." Morgan handed him a card." If you think of anything else or if he comes back, you give me a call."

Morgan turned to find Xander had already left the store. He stepped out into a fine mist just beginning to fall from the sky, Morgan turned up his collar against the damp and started walking irritably down the street. He spotted Xander on the next block in animated conversation with the mousy haired woman. Morgan watched them from a distance, he saw Xander hand the woman back the cufflinks and give her a kindly pat on the arm and a friendly smile. Something he said had the woman blushing before she hurried off. Xander returned to his partner.

"I know, I had a hell of a nerve stealing from a witness, and right under your nose." Xander held out his hands as though to be cuffed.

"What were you telling her?" Morgan asked.

"I told her to make sure she got no less than twenty-five dollars if she is going to pawn them again, and I gave her the contact information for someone in the Fallen Angels that would help her get into a woman's shelter. I know they mostly help kids, but Aurora said they can help point people who are adults to places that will help them if she wanted to go another direction, she can make a choice."

Xander continued holding out his hands but Morgan shook his head.

"I'll let your Robin Hood act slide this once." He grinned at the younger man, "Especially as I know you would have liked those cufflinks for yourself, And Nice work for consulting with your teammate."

"I don't know why you believe in me Tubbs, but I don't want to screw this up."

"Then stop calling me Tubs."

"Does that mean you won't call me Crocket?" Xander grinned mischievously.

Morgan grunted then turning; he walked toward their SUV, tossing the keys in his hands.


End file.
